House and Home
by Fire2Ashes
Summary: 'A Weasley in Slytherin. I was a walking oxymoron' Rose Weasley gets sorted into Slytherin much to everyone's surprise, but the sorting hat is never wrong. Story following Rose's school years and the relationships with her friends and family. Eventually RW/SM
1. Chapter 1

**I've just had this idea in my head for a while, Rose Weasley being sorted into Slytherin. Though I'm not really a believer in Rose being Slytherin, those plot bunnies breed quickly and soon I had a few chapters down. So let's see what you guys think.**

**Disclaimer: I'm just dipping my fingers into JK Rowling's magical world.**

Pure and utter terror flooded through my veins as I followed the Prefect through the stone wall and into the common room. The other first years around me exclaimed in delight as they took in their new home. The feast had been a blur to me, all the excitement and nerves of finally arriving at Hogwarts had faded away and now, standing in the common room, it hit me, like a title wave of emotions. I was a Slytherin.

My hands twisted and fidgeted anxiously as I took sneaking glances at the people around me. There were only seven of us though, and thinking back to the group waiting to be sorted, I could count over forty new students. The handful of Slytherin first years shared similar looks of awe and pleasure as they stared wide-eyed around the room.

The green lights hanging from thick chains cast strange shadows against the stone walls, the light just, not quite stretching to the corners. Black and green leather chairs sat high and stiff around an elaborately carved fire place. It didn't seem anything like the warm and comforting Gryffindor Tower that James and Roxanne had told me stories about, during the summer.

My stomach clenched as my thoughts lingered on my family. During the feast I'd avoided everyone's eyes, ashamed and terrified of what people might say.

But I knew I wouldn't be able to avoid them forever, no matter how big the castle was. Between my classes with Albus and meal times in the Great Hall I bet I'd see them before classes tomorrow. I took a deep breath. They were my family, they loved me before the sorting and they'd love me after. The sorting doesn't make me a different person.

A Weasley in Slytherin. I was a walking oxymoron.

'... Boy dormitories down the stairs to your left, girls to your right.'

I followed mindlessly after my fellow... house mates, and now dorm mates, down the stairs and into the room marked 'first years' in silver cursive.

Quickly I busied myself with unpacking as to avoid part taking in the idle conversation flowing between the three other girls. Placing all my clothes into the dresser provided, I picked up the last piece from my bed.

A Slytherin tie. I turned it over in my hands, examining the silver and green stripes that I would be wearing for the next seven years. In my head, I remembered how I'd pictured Albus and me, standing side by side at graduation, both smiling brightly in our red ties. It was strange, everything I'd expected of Hogwarts had been flushed down the drain and instead been replaced with an upside down world.

'You're a Weasley aren't you?' a voice cut into my internal worry. I looked up to see all three girls watching me expectantly, waiting for my answer.

'Uh, yeah,' I mumbled putting the tie down. 'I'm Rose.' The girl who'd spoken perched herself on the edge of my bed.

'I'm Vivian Vaisley,' she said with in low, enchanting voice.

'I didn't think Weasleys could be Slytherins,' a girl with caramel coloured skin said, I looked at her, my face red.

'Don't mind her,' Vivian said running her fingers through her hair. 'This is Grace Zabini,' Grace gave me a once over before sliding onto the bed. Vivian's dark eyes twinkled and her lips curled.

'Nice to meet you,' Grace said, her voice honey-like and almost practiced politeness.

The other girl stepped forward, her hair a glossy straw blonde.

'I'm Eva Warrington,' the girl said, crawling onto my bed with Vivian.

'Hello,' I said, giving them a small smile.

'I don't mean to be rude or anything,' Eva began, crossing her legs. 'But how come you are in Slytherin?' My eyebrows shot up at her bluntness, but the two other girls had become awfully quiet waiting for my answer.

'Um, I'm not sure,' I said, sitting on the bed next to Eva. 'The Hat just thought that I'd be best here,' I shrugged off-handedly. 'All my family has been in Gryffindor for centuries though.'

'I wouldn't worry about them,' Vivian said with a cat-like smile. 'After all, who'd want to be a goody-two shoes Gryffindor?' she wrinkled her nose playfully and the other girls chuckled. I let out a small grimace that could have passed for something more cheerful.

'Don't worry,' Eva said, patting me on the back. 'So what if you're a Weasley? You're a Slytherin now and we've got to watch out for each other,' she winked at the group.

'We will,' Vivian said seriously, nodding to each of us. 'Have you noticed how little Slytherins there are compared to the other houses?' Eva frowned. I thought back to the Slytherin table, it had seemed quite roomy compared to the other houses over flowing benches.

'We are the only house with a single digit amount of new students,' Grace agreed.

'It's because of the war,' Eva sighed. 'Nobody wants to be a Slytherin, everyone wants to be a Gryffindor like brave Harry Potter,' she smiled bitterly.

'No offence to you,' Vivian added, noting my red face.

'It's ok,' I mumbled, not really sure what to think of my family at the moment, or what they thought of me. Eva took my hand in her own and Grace's in her other.

'We'll just have to stick together,' she said firmly. 'We'll show them all how great Slytherins can be.' Vivian's lips curled up into a smile. We sat there on my bed for a few moments in silence. Then Eva giggled as jumped across to the next bed.

'Oh if my mother where here to see this,' she laughed, putting her hands on her hips as she stood on the bed. '"Eva, darling, how many times do I need to remind you to behave in a manner fitting for a woman of your age and stature." She'd have a fit,' she smiled, jumping a few times for good measure before lying back and closing her eyes.

'Good idea,' Vivian said, smoothing down her robes before gracefully climbing into her bed. Grace drifted away and disappeared behind her own green hangings.

Alone with my own thoughts I changed into my pajamas and lay back, my eyes suddenly heavy and full of sleep. The last restless thought I had before slipping into dream land, was that I'd have to write to my parents in the morning.

**I don't have spell-check but hopefully it's all ok. **

**Let me know if you think I should continue and review! Seriously, I'll love you forever.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Whoo! Chapter two!**

**Thanks to everyone who added me to their favourites/alerts. You are the bestest!  
And remember to review once you're finished!**

**Disclaimer: Nothing but wishful thinking.**

My eyes flitted open and I stared up at the wooden cross bar above my head, mildly confused about what happened to my Weird Sister's poster. Disorientated, I scrambled for my wand and sat up. Taking in the soft, green velvet hangings, the previous night's excitement came back to me. I was finally at Hogwarts. And I'd been sorted into Slytherin.

Pulling back the curtains I glanced around at each of the other beds, all of which still had their hangings closed tightly around them. A quick check of my watch told me it was barely sunrise, an obscenely early hour to be awake at.

I liked the comfortable silence of early morning that was only interrupted by the soft hooting of Grace's glossy black owl that watched me from across the room as I began rummaging through my things.

Pulling out a quill and a piece of parchment I settled down in a nearby chair. My quill hovered above the parchment for a moment dripping blue ink onto the page.

_Dear Mum and Dad,_

_Hogwarts is brilliant, just as you said it would be! The sky looked so real in the Great Hall, like you could get on a broom and just keep going up into the air.  
I don't really know how to tell you this, so I'm just going to put it out there.  
I was sorted into Slytherin.  
But so far it's been good, the girls in my dorm are really great and interesting, though they all seem to already know each other. But they haven't been anything less that welcoming.  
I'm looking forward to starting classes today._

_Love,  
Rose_

_P.S Albus was sorted into Gryffindor, though I suppose you'll hear that from Uncle Harry._

I frowned and looked over the letter. There wasn't much else to be said, unless I added something along the lines of _please don't disown me._ But I don't want to come off sounding desperate, that would just be embarrassing.

Satisfied, I left the ink to dry as I collected my clothes and jumped into the bathroom. It surprised me how they went all out with the decorating. The walls of the bathroom were smooth dark stone, and the floor was a mosaic of dark green tiles. Turning on the tap I noticed that the silver knobs were in the shapes of snakes.

I really was a Slytherin. I was taking a shower in my Slytherin bathroom, in the Slytherin dormitories, while my Slytherin roommates slept. I nearly smiled at the strangeness of it all, which was a start at least. There was a loud knock on the door.

'Rose,' called Vivian. 'Hurry up, the rest of us need to get in there too.' I reached for an emerald towel and turned off the water.

'Give me a second,' quickly drying off and getting into my robes, I faced the mirror. Fresh faced and clean I attempted to pull my unruly hair back into an elastic, but a few curls still managed to escape, hanging around my face. I could do this.

The other girls were in the midst of getting ready as I emerged for the bathroom.

'God, Weasley,' Vivian smirked. 'Take your time.' I surprised myself by smirking back.

'Snooze you lose,' I said, picking up the letter and folding it into my robe pocket. Eva looped her arm in mine, dressed and ready.

'Come on, ladies,' she smiled, scanning the two half-ready girls, Vivian drying her hair and Grace attempting to put on a pair of stockings. Her smile faltered.

'Ah, I guess it's just the two of us then Rose,' she said, steering me towards the door.

'Meet you guys at breakfast,' I called over my shoulder as I picked up my bag. Eva and I walked in silence through the common room, which, after a long night of sleep didn't nearly seem as terrifying as it had last night. In fact it even looked, could I say, charming. The green light wasn't as nearly as creep, but soft and welcoming as a few older student smiled down at us as we passed through.

It surprised me really, you'd think after all the stories there'd be some kind of Slytherin ritual of breaking in the firsties.

After a few minutes of aimless wandering and wrong turns, the two of them finally made it to the entrance hall. I hesitated, which didn't go unnoticed by Eva, who linked her arm through mine again and proudly took her place at the Slytherin table. I followed, trying to keep my head high and my eyes away from the Gryffindor table. I sat with my back to them, just in case.

The two of us were early though, the tables were half empty and as far as I could tell with a few glances, completely empty of my family.

'Mmm, toast,' Eva sighed, heartily spreading apricot jam onto her bread. Following her lead I poured myself a small bowl of porridge as began drizzling on honey. Eva looked up from the table and nodded to a group of first year boys that had just arrived.

'Morning Scorpius, Harper,' she said cheerfully as they took their seats beside us. I immediately recognised the blonde boy Scorpius for the platform, I grimaced internally. _Don't get too friendly with him,_ Dad had said and here we are as house mates.

'Rose,' Eva said. 'This is Scorpius Malfoy, Graham Harper and..?' her eyebrows knitted together.

'Duane Flint,' the boy introduced himself. I nodded.

'Rose Weasley,' I replied, taking a spoonful of porridge.

'So you're the Weasley?' Scorpius Malfoy asked, a smirk sliding onto his face.

'And you're so interested, why?' I asked coolly as he helped himself to the porridge. A smile played at his lips.

'Interested is a bit of a stretch Weasley,' he replied. 'Though I'm pretty sure your family would be pretty interested in why you're talking to me,' he added as he looked up to the entrance way. Following his gaze I saw my family enter as one big group, obviously looking for me as their eyes raked over the Slytherin table. I swore and watched as they moved through the now busy Hall to where I sat.

'Hi Rosie,' Fred said, his face stony as he eyed my companions. 'Can we talk to you?' he asked. I hesitated, I'd have to face the music sometime but I'd been hoping for something a little less public.

'Ok,' I nodded. Followed them out into the corridor where they turned back towards me. I was kind of angry that they were playing 'United Front' against me. It was something we used to gang up on our parents to stay up later or get extra dessert. Vic stepped forward. I took a deep breath.

'Rosie,' she said, pushing back a stray lock of hair from my face. 'We just want you to know that it doesn't matter to us what house you are sorted into. You're still the same Rose,' she smiled, before giving a stern look over her shoulder. Looks like they weren't completely united.

Dominique huffed and crossed her arms over her chest, scowling at Vic. James nudged her in the side as he came forward.

'And if any of those snakes are giving you a hard time,' he growled. I smiled, James had always been one of my favourites.

'Don't worry, everyone's been really great,' I tried to smile reassuringly.

'Good to know you're making friends Rosie,' Roxanne returned my smile. Molly behind her scowled.

'Good?' she repeated mockingly. 'She's making friends with _Slytherins_, Roxanne.'

'They're nice,' I said snapped defensively, my eyes narrowing.

'Of course they are,' Fed replied, giving me a look, 'Because you're one of them now.' He didn't say it in a mean way, that was never how Fred went about. He was simply stating a fact.

Looking through their faces I saw that a few of them felt this way. Roxanne, Vic and James all seemed to be ok with my sorting, as long as I was ok about it. But others like Molly and Dominique seemed to take it as a personal betrayal of the family.

I could see Albus amongst the squabbling, my stomach clenched again as I caught his eye, but he merely smiled and rolled his eyes at our older cousins. I let out a deep breath and returned the smile. I shouldn't have doubted Al, he was my best friend, just a general nice and open person. Like he'd care if I was a Slytherin.

'Did you see who she was sitting with?' Molly asked Roxanne angrily. 'A Malfoy! She's turning into one of them.' I felt my face growing red as they began to argue amongst themselves. They thought that I was suddenly going to become some sort of Voldemort loving muggle-born hating Death Eater. I scowled.

'Scorpius,' I said loudly, cutting in and they all turned their attention back on me. 'You're angry because I sat next to Scorpius?' I asked Molly angrily. Molly had never been my favourite cousin, but I did think she was taking our parent's prejudice a bit far. 'Well, sorry to disappoint you but I'm going to be friend with whoever I like,' I said, hoisting my bag over my shoulder as I spotted my housemates exiting the Great Hall.

'And if you'll excuse me,' I said coldly. 'I have places to be.' as I turned away from my family I heard Dominique growl loudly '_you see?' _

Catching up to the group Eva gives me a pitying look as she took in my flushed face. She opened her mouth and I quickly jumped in to cut her off.

'What do we have?' I asked, looking down at Vivian's timetable.

'Herbology,' she replies, scanning it. Nobody said anything more about the encounter with my family as we walked down the slope to the greenhouses.

'Grace?' I ask suddenly, as we reach the door. 'Could I borrow your owl?'

**What did you guys think? It didn't turn out as I had hoped.  
Review to see Hermione and Ron's reply!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Ok, this one didn't really happen how I planned; it was kind of a linking chapter to what follows, so sadly, there isn't much action. Actually I think the last few chapters have just been the set up for what I want to start happening.**

**Thanks to everyone who put my on favourites/alert! You guys are the bestest!**

**DISCLAIMER: I did once, and then I woke up.**

I felt a little ashamed of myself as I entered the Great Hall for dinner that night, glancing over at the Gryffindor's I let out a sigh. I'd been avoiding my family all day, not that it had been hard, the only cousin who'd I'd seen regularly was Albus. He'd even sat next to me in potions, which had been a huge relief to me as he hadn't said anything that morning during my family's confrontation.

But avoidance was pretty low. Shaking it off I slipped onto the bench besides Duane, closely followed by Vivian, Grace and Eva. Earlier than morning a second year housemate had tipped us off that Slytherin first years were usually the prime targets of older student's pranks, so as a precaution the four of us had taken to traveling in a pack, which I found rather useful, because I doubted my family would approach me surrounded by snakes.

Duane nodded a greeting before turning back to his mashed potatoes.

'Hello, Weasley,' Scorpius smirked, sitting down opposite us.

'Malfoy,' I replied coolly, a smile playing on my lips. He wasn't so bad really, and like Vivian had said the previous night. We Slytherins needed to stick together.

I chatted easily with Vivian and Grace about our first day of lessons between mouthfuls of kidney pie and peas.

'Grace, is that your owl?' Harper asked, pointing up to the ceiling, where a single owl swooped in through the window. He wasn't the only one looking; a few other students had lowered their forks to see who the late arriver belonged to.

The shiny black owl landed skillfully between the bead and roast beef. Grace removed the letter knotted to its ankle and it flew off.

'Oh, Rose,' she said, checking the name. 'It's a reply to your letter.' I was actually surprised how quickly it had taken my parents to write back. I hadn't been expecting anything until the following morning at the earliest.

'Um,' I said. 'I'll meet you guys back in the common room,' taking the letter from Grace I left the Great Hall and found an empty classroom.

_Dear Rosie, _it began.

_It's great to hear that you have begun to settle in at Hogwarts, these are going to some of the best and most important years of your life. You'll look back on them when you're older and realise what an impact they made on your life, so don't waste a second of it.  
Your father and I are quite surprised to hear of you being sorted into Slytherin, it has come as quite a shock to him. But he will come around quickly. I am pleased to hear that people have been nothing more than welcoming and if you have any trouble from anyone go speak to Neville. He'd be happy to help._

_I'm so very proud of you,_

_Love Mum._

It was easy enough to read between the lines. Dad wasn't very pleased, he hadn't even bothered to write, but mum was going to talk sense into him. _If you have any trouble_, if your housemates welcome wears out, tell Neville so he can tell us.

To be honest it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. I'd nearly expected dad to send a howler, though looking through the letter again, I let out a sigh.

It wasn't really as bad as I had feared, sure dad was disappointed but mum seemed to be ok with it and really, who cared what they thought? I did a little, I admit. But if we were a family it should hardly matter.

Her family still loved, or, at least cared for Percy after all the things he did. Though he was a Gryffindor...

I shook myself and put the letter into my robe pocket and tried to squish the dull depressing disappointment that filled my stomach.

'Rose?' my head shot up as a figure stepped into the doorway. An older boy stepped into the classroom, closing the door behind him. There was something oddly familiar about his shaggy blond hair and bright face that I couldn't quite put my finger on. A prefect badge was pinned messily onto is Slytherin tie.

'You probably don't remember me,' he said sheepishly, sitting in the chair opposite me. 'I'm Shawn Finnigan? Our parents are friends, we met a few times before I came to Hogwarts,' I smiled back, remembering. Though I'd never really spoken with Shawn, when we were younger he'd play Quidditch with Louis and James while I'd been closer to his younger sisters, Kate, Maria and Colleen. Kate was in James' year and Maria was a year younger than me.

'Oh, yeah,' I said. I still saw his two youngest sisters occasionally at group gatherings while they were away at school.

'Yeah?' he smiled. 'Well, my dad heard from your dad that you'd been made Slytherin,' he said. 'And I thought I'd better just check in on you.' I smiled tightly.

'I'm fine,' I said, stuffing the letter further into my pocket. Shawn frowned.

'Come on,' he said seriously, gesturing to his tie. 'I know what it's like to have a family of Gryffindors and then get sorted into Slytherin.' I looked down at his tie.

'But it's ok for you,' I shot at him. 'Your mum didn't go to Hogwarts; you only had to live up to your dad and grandma's expectations. I have a dozen Gryffindor cousins! Weasley's are always Gryffindor, that hasn't changed in centuries!'

'Look, I get it,' he said. 'You have a lot of pressure on you from your ma and your pa and I'm pretty sure the whole wizarding world,' I shot him a glare. 'But that doesn't matter,' he continued. 'What I learnt from being sorted into Slytherin, is that it's ok to be different and sometimes it's not just ok, but it's the way things should be,' he finished seriously.

'My dad's not happy,' I admitted, I could hear the hurt in my voice. Shawn put a hand on my shoulder.

'Don't worry 'bout that. Apparently your army of aunts and uncles are half-yelling half-talking sense into your father as we speak. Actually me pa said that he and Neville might pop round and join the fun for a bit,' he smiled.

'What did your dad say when you were sorted into Slytherin?' I asked. Shawn threw his head back and laughed.

'Oh, 'e wasn't too pleased to begin with, but me mam gave him a right talking too and reminded him that one drunken night he'd confessed loudly to the Leaky Cauldron that he's almost been sorted into Slytherin,' he winked as me. 'Don't worry Rosie, everyone will come around sooner than you think. Besides it's not like your house changes who you are.' I nodded a thank you, fighting the few tears that wanted to trickle down my face.

I don't cry in public.

'And if anyone gives you any trouble,' he said, walking back to the door. 'I'll take care of 'em,' a nearly wicked grin crossed his face. 'You know where to find me!' he closed to door behind him and I felt a small grin creep onto my face, lighting a new flame of hope.

**So hopefully next chapter things will start happening! Depending on what you do next...**

**You know the drill, click the button, go on!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Happy New Year everyone! And thanks to all of you who reviewed/alerted/favourited (is that a word?)**

**Ok so, this begins in Rose's third year and this is sort of more the beginning of the plot. Enjoy!**

I dipped the brush into the glass bottle and gave it a small whirl before returning it back to my half painted thumb. The Slytherin room was peacefully free of the usual chattering as everyone was outside, making use of the last weekend of sun before winter.

Only Vivian, Grace, Eva and I remained. Eva and Vivian were slowly, but steadily, finishing the last of their homework as Grace and I kept them company. Grace was lounging in a recliner watching them with a smug expression on her face. As I hadn't seen her lift a quill all weekend, I'd safely assumed she'd played some poor Ravenclaw to do it for her.

Eva glared down at the text book and with a frustrated sigh she closed the book with a loud _thud_. This was quickly followed by Vivian's.

'How do you do it Rose?' Eva asked as I blew gently on my now violet nails.

'Do what?' I asked, looking up. She huffed.

'You _never_ study and only hand in half the amounts of homework the rest of us do. And yet you always get top marks, without even trying,' she looked at me intently. 'How do you do it?'

'Well, that's an answer I'd like to hear,' someone called as the common room door flew open, bringing in Harper and Duane, both of them filthy but with huge smiles on their faces.

'What in the world have you guys been doing?' Grace asked disgustedly, sliding away as Harper flopped down beside her.

'Quidditch,' he answered simply, brushing a handful of crumbling mud onto the carpet. 'So what is Rose Weasley's dirty little secret?' he grinned, leaning back.

'No secret I'm afraid,' I let out a dramatic sigh. 'Just the wondrous combination of Hermione Granger's brain and Ron Weasley's work ethic,' I smirked. Harper's face fell and he let out a mock breath of defeat.

'Damn, I was hoping it was something illegal,' Vivian smirked as Duane punched him good naturedly on the arm, causing a few loose pieces of mud to spray Eva.

'Why were you guys out playing Quidditch? I thought only this morning Duane here was complaining about the massive amount of revision Kenwitt gave you in Ancient Runes,' Vivian asked, her eyebrows raised.

'We were practicing for try-outs,' Duane said happily. 'Thought we'd pull a Weasley and risk detention,' he winked at me. I immediately perked up.

'Try-outs?' I asked.

'Yeah, haven't you heard?' Duane asked. 'Both Brothmore and Anderson were kicked off the team. At practice the other day they were caught trying to bewitch the Quaffle with anti-stick charms,' he shook his head disgusted. 'For the upcoming Gryffindor vs. Hufflepuff match,' Vivian swore.

'It's idiots like that who give the rest of us a bad name,' she scowled, opening her book again and continued writing furiously.

'Why are you so interested, you thinking of trying out?' Harper asked.

'Yeah, I think I will,' I grinned. Harper's eyebrows shot up.

'Really?' he asked, looking surprised.

'Yeah, why?' I replied confused.

'Well, it's just,' he hesitated. 'There haven't really been many girls on the team before,' he ran his fingers through his hair. I glared.

'You don't think I could do it?' I asked, my voice venomous. Harper looked over at Duane who averted his eyes. 'Oh,' I said standing from my seat. 'You don't think a girl could get on the team!' I was shouting by now, looking desperately at Vivian and Eva for back-up. Surprising me, Grace spoke up.

'It's not that you_ can't _do it because you are a girl,' she said bored. 'It's that you _shouldn't.'_

'What?' I asked, dumbstruck.

'Well,' she said as if I were some ignorant first year. 'It just isn't proper, for girls with any sort of class to fly around, getting all sweaty with a stick between her legs. But I'm not stopping you,' she gave me a cold smile. Of course in Grace's eyes I was never considered something of class.

Vivian and Eva sat with their eyes firmly cast down on the pages of the text book. I could feel my face heating with embarrassment as I tried to form some sort of reply.

Though Slytherin wasn't the pureblood orientated, power hungry house that it used to be back before the war, most of its students still came from very high class old money. This meant they all grew up being expected of certain behaviour, and I, growing up among the Weasleys always felt a bit awkward and rough standing beside Vivian and Grace.

Even Eva, who was a ball of energy and giggles, was graceful, charming and polite among high society and other students. The boys too, when greeting their parents on the platform were nothing more that well-mannered, cool and disinterested.

My tongue seemed to stick to the roof of my mouth as I struggled for a scathing reply. Too thrown to form something coherent I turned my back on the group and marched out of the Common Room, closing the door with a slam.

_Well that was certainly graceful_, I thought to myself bitterly. Sighing I walked quickly down the familiar route to the Quidditch pitch. Taking my broom from the store cupboard I took off with a sharp kick.

With only a half hour until dinner the pitch was practically deserted, save a few straying students, trying to squeeze in a few laps before going back up to the castle.

Soaring upwards the wind streamed past my face, leaving my cheeks flushed and cool. I could already feel my anger seeping away as I pulled my broom into a few loop-the-loops.

'Oi, Weasley!' I swiveled my broom around to face Scorpius, who hovered only a few meters below me.

'Oh, hi,' I said turning away.

'Hey, wait,' he called, bringing his own broom up beside mine. 'What are you doing out here?' he asked.

'Just felt like a fly,' I replied breezily, pulling at the sleeves of my jumper against the cool air. Scorpius nodded. 'Where have you been all day?' I asked, taking in his grass stained knees and elbows. Scorpius let out a low chuckle.

'Duane, Harper and I we pulling some stunts, have you heard of the game 'Catch'?' I knew of the muggle game with a ball, but I had a feeling that wasn't what he was talking about. I shook my head.

'It's pretty stupid,' he chuckled. 'You fly as high as you can then let your broom go slack. The winner is whoever can catch themselves again closest to the ground, whoever falls the furthest without hitting the ground.'

'That's really dangerous,' I said, my eyes widening.

'Hey, we aren't that stupid,' Scorpius smirked, putting his hands out in front of him defensively . 'We performed cushioning charms first, to escape any major injuries.'

'Sounds like fun,' I eyed the ground below me.

'Rose,' he said seriously. 'Don't go doing anything reckless and stupid,' he eyed me wearily. I frowned.

'Why not, you guys do it,' I countered. 'It would be a bit hypocritical.' Scorpius shrugged.

'Yeah, well, we're guys,' he said carelessly. I glared hatefully at the blond boy.

'What?' he asked, wiping a streak of mud from the handle of his shiny top-class broom.

'Oh, nothing.' I snapped. 'I just didn't think you'd be like Duane and Harper,' Scorpius looked up, confused.

'What about Duane and Harper?' he asked.

'Well, I was up in the common room before,' I said slowly, still a little embarrassed by my behaviour. 'And Harper or Duane mentioned the Quidditch try-outs coming up, I kind of said that I'd like to give it a go and was treated to a few snide comments of how girls of class shouldn't play Quidditch, but I was welcome to try-out,' I felt my face redden, this time in anger. 'You'd think those sorts of prejudices would have evaporated along with Voldemort's sea of supporters,' I growled.

Scorpius sat on his broom quietly letting me rant about the unfairness of such a stupid idea that boys should be given more free rein than girls.

'You can't blame them,' he said. 'That's just how they, we, were brought up.' He sounded surprisingly more logical than his usual self.

'So you're saying you believe it too?' I asked.

'No,' he said slowly, as though he was thinking about how he wanted to phrase his words. 'I don't think it's fair that somebody shouldn't be able to do something just because of who they are.' He looked me straight in the eye, which was enough for me to catch the double meaning behind his words. Scorpius looked away first.

There had been moments over the past three years where people, students and the occasional teacher, would treat Scorpius differently because of his surname.

I remember on one occasion he'd been given a weeks' worth of detentions for being only a few minutes late for class. Vivian had had a fit and complained to Headmistress Sprout. Who'd given the teacher in question a firm talking to.

'Are you going to try out?' he asked. I sighed.

'Yeah, maybe,' I pursed my lips. 'What if the captain is as biased as Duane and the others?' I asked, letting out my worry. Scorpius chuckled again.

'I wouldn't worry about that. Shane or Shawn or something is the captain this year. You're friends with him right?' he asked. I nodded, a smile creeping onto my face. Leaning back on my broom I looked down towards the pitch. The last stragglers were packing away their things and rounding up the Quaffles before darkness hit.

'So,' Scorpius raised his eyebrows. 'Do you want to perform the charm or should I?' I opened my mouth to ask what he was on about, but with a flick of his wand Scorpius fell out of the air beside me.

Gasping, I looked down just in time to watch him pull his broom back under his body and pull away from the ground. 'You coming!' he called breathlessly.

Holding my breath, I closed my eyes and let my broom fall slack. I felt myself plummet full speed towards the carpet of grass, I flickered my eyes open, blinking back the water welling up in the corners. I watched as the ground grew and grew, unable to do anything or feel anything, my senses were overloaded. All I could hear was the wind bellowing in my eyes with a great _whoosh_, feel nothing except the air streaming beside me, see nothing through my watering eyes. There was no room in my mind for thought or feeling.

It was a natural reaction for me to pull my broom under me, so there would be something between myself and the ground, which was becoming steadily closer.

With a jerk, my broom leveled out. Giving me no time to brace myself I was flung forward and tumbled across the grass, my broom following with a clutter.

'Rose!' Scorpius rushed over. 'Are you ok?' I let out a loud laugh and sat up. Scorpius looked visibly relieved.

'Crap, you scared the shit out of me,' he laughed in relief. I gave him a strange look.

'What?' he asked, helping me to my feet.

'Nothing, I just don't think I've ever heard you swear before,' I said, examining the muddy scuffs along my shins and arms.

'That's because it isn't proper to swear in public, cursing is for those who have something to cure about,' he replied in a pompous manner. I laughed.

'That was amazing,' I said, picking up my broom. 'Pity about the landing though.'

'Hey, that was pretty good for a first timer,' Scorpius said. 'First time I tried it I ended up in St Mungo's with a broken collar bone,' he grimaced. 'But the feeling is so worth it.'

I grinned widely in agreement.

'Like your stomach is going to burst through your head,' he added. I laughed again, hitting him on the shoulder.

'That's one way to put it,' we locked our brooms back in the store room. Scorpius turned to me.

'Do you want to go get something to eat?' he asked.

'Sure,' I smiled as we walked back up to the castle, unable to contain our exhilarated smiles.

**Please Review! It would make my year :)**


	5. Chapter 5

**Ok, I'll admit I'm not very good at writing Quidditch, but here it goes.**

**Thanks to everyone who reviewed/alerted/added me, and all that jazz.**

**Disclaimer: (keep forgetting this) anything you recognise is not mine.**

I stared down into my porridge, the sickly sweet smell of honey making my stomach churn. The Great Hall was practically empty aside the few Slytherins, all decked out in their Quidditch gear, waiting for the time to head down to the pitch.

'Ready?' Scorpius asked as he slid onto the bench beside me, Duane and Harper stared down at the plates of scrambled eggs as though they were something my mother cooked up. Both of them in their Quidditch gear too.

'Of course,' I said with more confidence than I felt. Duane and Harper sat tall, and began chatting breezily about weather conditions as though nothing was off with them. But I felt a little better after noting Harper's fidgeting with his gloves and Duane carefully moving about his sausages without bringing them anywhere near his mouth.

Scorpius helped himself to a large plate of bacon and eggs and began eating.

'Where are the girls?' Harper asked, nibbling on a piece of toast.

'They aren't crazy enough to be awake so early on a Saturday,' Scorpius scowled.

'Why are you here then?' I asked, noting his jeans and shirt, rather than trainers and sweats like the rest of us.

'I wouldn't be either if these two hadn't practically dragged me out of bed,' he rolled his eyes gesturing towards Harper and Duane. I smirked.

Shawn strolled down the Slytherin table, already clad in his Green robes, the shiny captain badge pinned beside his prefect one.

'Rose!' he greeted cheerfully. 'You trying out this year?' he asked, spying my beater's bat in my lap.

'Yeah, of course. You guys need a bit of Weasley talent,' I replied, grinning.

'I've seen that Weasley talent in action, you might be right,' he winked. 'Good luck,' he added before joining the teams Keeper, John Keller beside the coffee mug.

'What did he mean; he's seen the Weasley talent in action?' Harper asked, curiously.

'Oh,' I said breezily, still not fully over the disagreement we'd had the last weekend. 'Shawn's a close family friend. He plays Quidditch with my cousins and I whenever their family comes around,' I swallowed another spoonful of porridge like my friendliness with Shawn was no big deal.

I felt a sense of satisfaction as Harper's face flushed a shade of pink and he muttered something about advantages. We'll see if girls can't play Quidditch.

Shawn stood from the table, and as if in sync, the rest of us followed as he made his way down towards the pitch, chatting with John.

'Good luck,' Scorpius called as the three of us as we shuffled away from our breakfasts.

The pitch was cold and the sky an ominous grey as Shawn had us lined up according to position. There were three others trying out for the position a beater. Two giant fourth years and a weedy second year. All boys.

'Ok!' he yelled, across the pitch from his own broom. 'Beaters, I'm releasing the bludgers. Whoever has the best aim and a good arm on them gets the job!' he roared. 'Ready! Go!' he released the two balls of fury, that immediately shot through the air.

The first plummeted towards the tiny second year who gripped his bat read to swing. I was surprised when the bludger came in contact with the wooden bat. The kid had quite an arm on him. The bludger soared through the air, nearly missing the boom tail of one of the fourth years.

While watching this I nearly missed the second ball hurdling towards me from the left. Quickly I swerved upward, cursing myself. Gripping my own bat tighter, I prepared for round two.

The bludger returned at break neck speed, but I was ready. Throwing my arm forward, my bat made contact with a satisfying _crack_. It flew towards the dumbly targets Shawn had set up, and missed the closet by mere inches.

The other bludger flew by my ear. Turning around I saw one of the fourth years scowl at me before flying off to find the other.

Growling I flew after the bludger, aiming it straight towards one of the dummies. Feeling pleased as it knocked the dummies right off its broom.

Another bludger shot past, knocking another one, aimed by the rather skilled second year.

Swooping over him I shot another straight across the pitch, again narrowly missing the third. None of the fourth years had managed to hit a target yet, which caused a victorious smile to creep over my face. In fact, one of them had landed and was nursing his wrist. Which even from the air looked oddly bent.

The try-outs continued in a similar pattern for another fifteen minutes before Shawn called time. Exhausted I landed beside the other two boys, sighing as I noticed a hairline crack snaking along the barrel.

'Great work,' Shawn said, smiling. 'Really great,' he looked happy about today's tryouts. 'Ok, how about you guys go get some lunch. I'll have the team sheet on the common room notice board by the end of the day,' with another smile he turned back to the other potential chasers. 'Oi, can I get you all up in the air!'

Feeling quite good about my chances I headed back up to the castle, where I walked straight past the Great Hall and to the Slytherin dormitories. I was too excited to eat.

Eva and Grace were still lounging in their pajamas as I entered our dormitory, hair wild and robes sweaty. Grace looked up from her mirror only to acknowledge me with a scowl. Eva, on the other hand perked up.

'How did it go?' she asked.

'Good,' I smiled, rummaging through my things. 'I'm going to take a shower,' I said, holding up my towel.

'Thank goodness,' Grace quipped. 'You're really starting to cause a smell.'

I scowled.

Duane, Harper and I sat still as Shawn Finnigan emerged from his dormitory and walked across the common room and pinned a sheet of paper on the notice board. He smiled contently and left the common room.

Almost immediately the three of us were out of our seats, as if somehow getting there first would change the results. Desperate to get rid of the nervous butterflies I shoved in front of a fifth year to get a better very.

_Keeper: John Keller  
Chasers: Shawn Finnigan, Thomas Phelps, Duane Flint  
Beaters: Zach Robins, Rose Weasley  
Seeker: Nathaniel Brawn_

_First match against Gryffindor, 5th of January.  
Practice on Mondays, Tuesdays and alternative Fridays, 5pm._

I had to stop myself from squealing as I found my name, written in Shawn's neat cursive, beside beater. Duane besides me cheered, I smiled as he lifted me into an unexpected hug.

'Well,' he smirked. 'Well done.' I gave him a smug smile.

'Yeah, not so bad yourself,' I sighed happily as I re-read the list. What had Eva told me earlier? There hadn't been a female on Slytherin team for nearly two hundred years. Happily I returned to my seat and pulled out a piece of parchment.

_Dear Mum and Dad,_

_I made the house team! I'm the new beater for Slytherin!  
Shawn's captain this year and he's quite happy with the new team from what I can tell. He was basically skipping when he pinned the sheet to the notice board.  
It's amazing really; there hasn't been another female on the Slytherin team for two hundred years. So I'm making history here!  
My friend Duane Flint made chaser as well._

_See you at Christmas__,_

_Rose _

'So you made the team?' Scorpius asked, peering over my shoulder at the letter.

'Yeah,' I smirked, pulling the letter away.

'Congrats,' he replied, I nodded thanks as he walked off. I read over the letter once more.

_p.s I broke my bat during try-outs, do you think I could get another one? Otherwise I'll have to use one of the school ones in our next match against Gryffindor, and they are hopeless._

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	6. Chapter 6

**Happy New Year!**

**Thank you everyone who reviewed/alerted/added me or anything else I can't remember, you keep this story going!**

**Disclaimer: I am not JK Rowling.**

The thick white smoke of the Hogwart's Express temporarily obstructed the view of platform nine and three-quarters, blocking the image of the crowd of bustling parents eagerly awaiting the return of their children for the holidays.

With the smoke obscuring the scene that lay beyond, I could almost pretend that it wasn't goodbye. Harper and Scorpius began unloading the trunks from the overhead compartments. I couldn't help but grin as Harper lay mine at my feet, the boys could be gentlemanly when they wanted to be.

Vivian handed me my owl as we followed the procession through the hall and out onto the platform.

'Oh my,' Eva muttered, peering through the smoke. 'There are my parents,' she said, her back slightly straighter and her face forming a polite smile. 'I'll miss you Rose. Owl me if the family becomes too much for you,' she winked quickly before greeting her parents.

Grace and Harper left equally as quickly, leaving Duane, Scorpius, Vivian and I standing amongst the crowd with our luggage.

I couldn't help but grimace as the usual pack of red hair came into sight.

'Well, that's me,' I sighed. 'Have a great Christmas all of you.'

Giving Duane, Scorpius and Vivian each a kiss on the cheek, followed by promises of owls and meeting up for a butterbeer, I pushed through the smoke to where my family stood waiting.

'Rosie,' mum cooed, pulling me in for a hug. 'How are you?' she smiled, looking over my shoulder at my friends.

'I'm fine,' I smiled. Dad stepped in a took my trunk. 'Have a good term Rose?' he asked.

'Yeah,' I replied breezily. 'I'm acing Transfiguration,' at that moment, the idiot that was my brother Hugo Weasley, chose to appear, his head engulfed in his usual cloud of hairspray.

'Hey mum, hey dad,' he grinned. 'Snake,' he nodded at me. I rolled my eyes.

'Idiot,' I replied, with an overly fake smile. Hugo scowled and dumped his own trunk onto the trolley dad had collected.

'Come on,' mum said, ushering us towards the barrier quickly before a Witch Weekly photographer decided to show up. It had happened before.

Dad, also eager to escape the stares and whispers, quickly began loading the car as Hugo and I strapped ourselves in.

'So you kids have a good term?' dad asked, pulling out of the lot and onto the street.

'Yeah,' Hugo said enthusiastically. 'Gryffindor's Keeper, that Macmillian guy, quit because he's nearly failing charms and wanted to focus on studying, so there are going to be tryouts after Christmas,' dad's eye's lit up.

'That's great, do you want me to help you practice? A bit of training and I'm sure the spots yours. I was Keeper too, you know,' he grinned. I couldn't help myself as I chuckled under my breath.

'What?' Hugo asked, scowling.

'Second years never make the house team,' I said matter of factly. 'Even if you flew great, they'll give the position to someone older, the seventh and sixth years always get first preference.' Mum shot me a warning look in the review mirror.

'It wouldn't hurt to give it a go, son,' dad said loudly, before I could go on. Hugo nodded, but looked a bit deflated. My stomach squirmed a little, but there was no point in getting his hopes up, I told myself.

'Hugo,' mum said, smartly changing topic. 'Are you planning on having anyone over for a week or two after Christmas?' she asked.

'Yeah,' Hugo said, perking up again slightly. 'Could Matt Henderson come over?' he asked.

'Who's he?' dad asked.

'A mate from Hufflepuff, he's a muggleborn. But we've been sitting next to each other in charms for the past couple weeks. He's a top bloke,' Hugo said, sitting on the edge of the chair with his head between our parents.

'Alright, why don't you owl him and ask if he's allowed to come over for a couple of days after New Year?' mum said, smiling. 'How about you Rosie?'

'How about me, what?' I asked.

'Who were those people you were talking to on the platform? Would you like to invite one of them over?' she asked smiling.

'Well, one of my friends invited me to spend New Year's with her,' I said slowly, my fingers crossed behind my back. Dad frowned.

'But what about the traditional New Year's Eve party?' dad asked.

'It's only one year dad. There is only a certain amount of times I can watch you and your friends get drunk before it becomes unfunny,' I responded. Dad's frown deepened, mum stifled a giggle and jumped in.

'Which one is she?'

'The girl on the platform I was with, with the dark hair?' mum nodded thoughtfully.

'What's her name again?' dad asked, not so discreetly.

'Vivian Vaisley,' I replied.

'Vaisley...I don't think we know that family,' dad replied, slightly more relaxed.

'We'll think about it, honey,' mum said carefully. 'I don't think I like the idea of you missing out on the party. It's a family thing and everybody wants to see you again after being away at school.' I nodded, knowing better than to push the subject now.

'So,' mum said with a grin. 'Who were those boys?' dad swore colourfully as his face turned bright red.

'What boys?' he growled. Mum glared as slapped him scoldingly on the arm.

'Ronald,' she warned. Dad stared out onto the road determinedly.

'Well?' mum probed, grinning wickedly.

'Just some friends of mine,' I replied, a smirk creeping onto my face. Mum still watched me, silently telling me to continue. 'Duane Flint and Scorpius Malfoy.'

'MALFOY!' dad roared his face nearly purple now as he turned in his seat.

'Watch the road, Ronald,' mum ordered. I let the smirk settle boldly onto my face, taking in my father's shock.

There was something oddly satisfying about doing the unexpected. Ever since I'd been sorted into Slytherin, I'd shocked people, and after a while, I realised I started doing it on purpose. I liked doing and saying things that made people stop and stare, because it always made me feel bold and powerful. Knowing that people could never know what to expect of me. And I was good at it.

'Duane?' mum asked. She had to be the only person immune to my gift. 'Didn't you say he was on the Quidditch team with you?' she mused.

'Yeah,' I replied. 'He's chaser, apparently his dad was on the team when he was younger,' I felt a little smugger as dad shifted in his chair a muttered a few well-chosen curses under his breath.

We traveled in for another hour, the car bumping along in the dusk light as an old Weird Sister's classic filled the silence. It was oddly comforting to see the ivy covered cottage again, after being at school I usually tended to forget that as much as I felt at home with my friends, this was home too.

Sighing happily, I pulled my trunk from the car and made my way to the front door, almost tripping over the front step in the near darkness.

'Welcome home kids,' dad smiled, turning on the lights. 'Go put your things upstairs, I'll see if I can find your mother to cook us up some sandwiches.'

**If you liked it please Review :)**


	7. Chapter 7

**Hello again, this is a fast update :) I'm hoping to start updating weekly, now that schools back on.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.**

**Thanks to everyone who reviewed/alerted/favourited :) **

'Merry Christmas Rose! Wake up!' I groaned as the light above my head flickered on, too bright for this hour. I'd stayed up half the night exchanging owls with Eva before falling asleep with my half scribbled reply crumbled on my pillow.

'Hugo, go away,' I grumbled, brushing the parchment to the floor and pulling the blanket over my head. Through the ruffle of the curtains the weak morning light flittered onto my bedroom floor, the sun just peaking over the horizon.

'Come on, Rose!' he urged, pulling at my covers until we were caught in a fierce game of tug-of-war. Letting go, Hugo stumbled backward, blanket still in hand. I snickered and buried my face into the pillow.

'Rose!' he yelled frustrated. 'Come on, get up! Presents!' That got me moving.

'Ok, ok,' I sighed, pulling on a pair of socks and tying my hair back from my face. Following Hugo, the two of us thundered down the stairs before coming to a sliding stop besides the Christmas tree.

Taking a deep breath of the sharp pine smell, I settled myself down on the rug, lazily fiddling with a tiny gold angel hanging from the lowest branch. Like all the years before this the colourfully wrapped presents sat in stacked towers under the tree, waiting eagerly for Hugo and I to get our hands on them. Like some fifth year whore.

'You guys are up early,' mum said sleepily, wrapping her purple dressing gown around herself as she nestled herself onto the edge of the couch.

'It's Christmas, Hermione,' dad told her matter-of-factly as he emerged from the kitchen, stirring a piping hot cup of coffee. 'Who isn't up early?'

Hugo, who was jumping up and down on the floor besides me, eagerly reached for the closet box with his name now that we were all gathered.

Following suit, I pulled out a red, lumpy gift I knew was from Grandma Weasley. Carefully peeling back the paper I shook out my Weasley jumper. Dark blue wool with a large R stitched into the front. Pulling it over my head I glanced over at Hugo who already unwrapped several grifts and was tucking into Grandma Weasley's homemade fudge. Smirking I riffled through the rest of my presents.

Along with the Weasley jumper I received a set of water colour pencils, a new sketch pad, six new bottles of nail polish from Madam Roslyn's' new range (including the limited edition mood-colour) and two boxes of pumpkin pasties. I reached for the last box, the largest.

_Beaters bat, Beaters bat._ I silently prayed as I ripped off the wrapping.

'MERLIN'S GOD BLESSED BEARD!' Hugo shouted, jumping up and down, holding a large box above his head. 'Thank you, thank you, thank you!' he yelled, hugging mum and dad, dropping the box to the floor. On its side it read:

_QUIGLEY'S NEW and IMPROVED Keeper's Gloves, combines skin tight flexibility and the latest design of anti-slip spells for your best performance!_

Looking down at the half torn package in my lap I pulled out a set of books.

'What do you think Rose?' mum asked as Hugo jabbered away to dad about the gloves. 'You are doing so well in your school work that I thought you might like some new reading material,' she smiled. 'Those are a collection of muggle classics,' I flipped over one of the books to see a picture of a pale maiden walking in a garden: Pride and Prejudice, the title read.

'Thanks,' I contorted my face into a smile, hiding my disappointment. Dad pats Hugo on the back.

'For your try-outs,' he told him. 'If you get on the team then you can have your own set of gloves. The school equipment is hopeless,' he laughed.

'Yes, I know,' I said tersely, from my spot on the floor. I could feel my face flushing in anger. Dad and mum turned to me, confusion etched on their faces.

'What's the matter?' mum asked. I shook my head.

'Nothing, just an early morning,' dad nodded satisfied, mum watched me doubtfully. 'I'm going to take a shower.' I mumbled, already heading for the stairs.

Christmas at the Burrow is a monstrous event among the Weasley/Potter clan. Stepping out of the fire place Hugo and I were ambushed by nearly a dozen odd people all wearing brightly colour jumpers emblazed with their initial. Most of my Uncles shouted over the top of each other to be heard as they exchange their well wishes and Merry Christmas'.

As mum and dad emerged from the green flames, the tide of red headed relatives converted their attention long enough for me to escape to the kitchen, leaving them to deal with the constant chatter. Hugo, learning fast, quickly flees out the back door to the yard, where I can see some of the boys and Lily playing Quidditch.

I open the kitchen door where, if I'm lucky enough, I will find Aunt Fleur.

She stands over the oven stirring the soup as Grandma Weasley fusses over the state of Charlie's latest dragon burn. Her slivery hair twisted fashionably into a tight knot, here wand holding it in place.

'Honestly mum, I think I've done this enough times to know how to dress it properly,' Charlie huffed. Uncle George, who is sitting across the table chuckles.

'Yes, well, I do hope you'd be more careful is all. I worry about you boys,' she says fondly, cupping Charlie's face in her hand.

'Ah!' Fleur exclaims. 'Rose, my darzling! Merri Christmas!' she greets, kissing both my cheeks energetically.

'Merry Christmas,' I return happily. Fleur has to be my favourite of Aunts, something most of my cousins don't get. I am her favourite niece, too. Not that she openly shows favoritism, but it's obvious as she takes an actual interest in my doings and sayings, rather than nodding along politely, as she does when having to converse with some of my other cousins. She confines in me her truthful opinions and treats me as her equal, an adult.

'I 'ave brought you something,' she smiled, pulling a package from her bag and handing it across the table. Smiling brightly I tore through the paper and pulled out a rather large book.

_THE FINGER TWISTING THEORY:  
9 step guide to perfecting manipulation and deception, including the new chapter: how to talk your way out of any situation!_

I laughed loudly, causing Errol III to hoot loudly and ruffle his feathers. Fleur smiled.

'Yes, I thought you would find it a'musing,' she said, wiping her hands on her cherry red apron. 'I found it to be quite useful.' Her eyes twinkling. Uncle George picked to book off the table and flipped through to the table of contents.

'This is brilliant Fleur,' he exclaimed, smirking while flipping through the chapters. 'Body language...Lie detecting...How to complement...I may have to borrow this off you Rosie,' he grinned, taking another sip of his tea.

'How's school going?' he asked, handing the book back.

'Great,' I replied happily, slipping the book into my own bag. 'Made the house team,' I told him.

'Right! I overheard your dad say something about that,' he said cheerfully. 'Beater, yeah? Just like I was.' I nodded.

'Need a new bat though,' I sighed. 'Mine cracked during practice. I'll have to use the school ones,' I complained.

'Didn't you ask for one for Christmas?' he asked, as though that were the obvious thing.

'Yeah I did,' I muttered darkly. If Fleur was my favourite Aunty, the George was my favourite Uncle, they were two of the few people in my family I could be exactly myself around, sarcastic and proud.

George frowned and sighed as he placed his mug into the sink. Sharing a look with Fleur he settled himself down again.

'Well, I have something to cheer you up,' he brightened, handing a large purple box across the table, a large W informing me that it was the annual supply of Weasley's Wizard Wheezes. George gave a giant box to each of his nieces and nephews every year.

'Thanks,' I said, shifting through the box full of Decoy Detonators, Skiving Snackboxes, Extendable Ears, Portable Swaps and Weasleys' Wild-Fire Whiz-Bangs. A lot of which I never had much of a need for, but I'd sell them off to other student for extra pocket money, George knew this and I think he thought it was so typically Slytherin of me that it was bordering on hilarious.

'Check out the new packaging,' he smirked. Rolling over a Patented Daydream in my hands I examined the letters and picture of a warrior holding aloft a gold sword.

'You used my designs!' I shrieked, flinging myself across the table in a very un-Slytherin way to hug him.

'Yep,' Uncle George said. 'All the classic products now have Rose Weasley packaging,' he gestured to the bottom of the box, where in small silver cursive it read: A Rose Weasley Design.

'Thank you,' I said again, a little more composed but grinning from ear to ear. Fleur wandered over as Grandma Weasley took over the kitchen.

'It is verri beautiful Rozie,' she smiled, admiring the Portable swap drawings. I couldn't stop grinning, checking each of the boxes in turn for my name.

'I was also wondering if you'd like to have a go at updating the WonderWitch packaging. Angie thinks that we could make the labels a little more modern-vintage or something else equally as contradicting. She thought I should ask you about it,' he said casually.

'I'd love to,' I replied.

'Great!' George exclaimed, a little more brightly.

'Have you told her already?' Aunt Angelina asked entering the kitchen, hanging up her snow dusted cloak.

George nodded as Angelina kissed him on the cheek.

'Hey Rose,' she smiled.

'Hi Angelina,' I replied with my own.

'Your mum told me to collect you guys, lunch is ready and she wants us all rounded up to the dinning room.'

'Sure thing,' George said, rising from his chair as a crowd of cousins burst through the back door and paraded through the kitchen.

'Rose!' Albus laughed. 'Merry Christmas,' he said.

'Merry Christmas to you to,' I said, following the crowd into the dining room taking a seat besides Lily, Albus settling on my other side.

'Haven't spoken to you in ages,' he said, as the adults took their seats.

'Yeah,' I agreed, a little guiltily. 'What have you been up to?'

'Not much really, I heard you got onto the Slytherin Quidditch team?'

'Yes, Beater. Of Course.'

Albus laughed. 'Of course. Well dear cousin, do you think you'll be able to pull through and steal the cup right underneath Gryffindor's nose?'

'Of course, dear cousin,' I smirked. 'And I'm not giving away anything,' I warned as he opened his mouth again.

'Damn,' he muttered. 'Well watch out for James, he's determined to uncover Slytherin's tricks.' I laughed, glancing at James who was chatting animatedly to Fred.

'He's lulling you into a false sense of security,' Albus grinned mockingly, piling a couple of roast potatoes onto his plate. I stiffed a laugh.

I'd forgotten how easy it was to talk to Albus. Over the past year I'd barely had a full conversation with many of my cousins, as mum had taken the family to France for most of the previous summer and being in separate year levels and houses, I had rarely found myself within a few meters of them.

But together they talked, of people and parties that I didn't know or hadn't been to, and I was reminded how apart of each other's lives they were. They shared the same living space, with the same people, attended the same parties and a lot of them, took similar classes.

They were Gryffindors and I was Slytherin. And at family functions such as this, where all I could do was lean back and pretend I has some idea about this girl James was dating or who those people were, that hooked up at that party, I could see the void. A void caused by nothing except for the name of my house.

**I really hope you liked it, this is my favourite chapter yet!**

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	8. Chapter 8

**I do apologise for the appallingly long wait since the last update, but due to some personal issues my writing hasn't exactly been my first priority, so this is a bit short. But hopefully the next chapter will be up by the end of next week.**

**I'm not too happy with this, but I wanted something from Hermione's point of view and that isnt something I'm too good at. But hopefully the next chapter will make up for it. **

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything you recognise.**

Hermione smiled slightly as she paused in the living room door way, watching as Ron switched off the light. The Christmas tree stood in the corner of the room, the fairy lights glowing warmly throughout the room.

'Hello,' Ron smiled, wrapping his arms around her waist.

'Hello to you too,' she grinned, kissing him gently. 'I'm about to head to bed.'

'Ok, I'll be up in a bit,' he nuzzled his lips against her neck and she could feel him kiss his way down to her collar bone.

'Ronald,' she scolded playfully, stepping back and glancing up the stairs.

'Come on Hermione,' he grinned, kissing her.

'Well have the house to ourselves in a few weeks,' she reminded him. Ron pouted.

'A few weeks,' he grumbled. 'Feels like forever,' returning his arms around her waist.

'Fine,' Hermione replied, trying to sound stern but Ron could see the smile on her face. 'But I'm casting the silencing charm this time. I don't trust yours.' Ron just chuckled.

Hermione retreated up the stairs and paused on the landing in front of the first door. Blue, wooden letters claimed the door the be Hugo's, along with a scribbled note that read:** Keep out, or else**.

Knocking gently, Hermione let herself in.

Hugo's room was what Hermione had always imagined to be a typical boy's room. The walls were painted light blue and covered with posters of Falmount Falcons quidditch team. The book case in the corner was stacked with figurines, comics and school books. The few novels that were on there looked a little worse for wear, though Hermione guessed, more from lack of care rather than being read through.

A large Gryffindor banner hung proudly, taking up most of one wall.

Hugo himself, was sprawled out across his bed reading in the light of his wand.

'Hi mum,' he said, quickly closing the book.

'What are you reading?' she asked, sitting next to him on his bed. He showed her the cover. Quidditch Through the Ages, typically Ron, she thought.

'Well, I just came up to say goodnight,' she smiled, running her fingers through his hair fondly. Hugo shooed her away and attempted to tame the mess.

Hermione laughed. 'Goodnight,' she smiled, closing the door behind her.

'Night, mum,' Hugo called after her.

Two paces further and Hermione found herself outside the door marked ROSE with curvy pink letters. She knocked lightly and let herself in.

'Rosie,' Hermione smiled, closing the door behind her.

Rose sat beside her vanity table, brush in hand stroking through her thick waves. She looked up at Hermione in the mirror and turned in her seat.

'Hi mum,' she said. Hermione stood behind her daughter and took the brush from her hand. Gently she began pulling through Rose's fiery red locks.

'Did you have fun today?' she asked, admiring the small collection of presents that were piled at the end of Rose's bed.

Rose shrugged. 'Yeah.'

The two fell into a silence that was only disturbed by the faint swoosh as the brush trailed through Rose's hair.

Hermione frowned, Rose never used to be so quiet. Rose used to talk and talk away to everyone about everything, but she seemed to have grown out of the need to constantly chatter as she'd entered Hogwarts. Even that day at the Burrow for Christmas lunch Rose had hovered in the corner, talking with only few, cool and silent. Contrasting greatly with the rest of the loud, boisterous family.

Hermione sighed internally as she stood in the silence.

Rose's room was completely different from her brother's. While Hugo's was full of life and colour, Rose's was neat and bland. Her walls were plain and lacked the personal touches that Hugo's had, no posters, drawings or banners.

Only a collection of photographs pasted around her mirror gave Hermione any real insight to the workings of her daughter's mind.

The young faces stared steadily straight into the camera, each expression perfected to polite looks. Their every facial muscle trained and thought over. Eyes glassy and empty, staring outward.

Hermione sighed as she recognised the same haughty indifference that she associated with Slytherins.

One caught her eye though, as she peered closer to the mirror. It was a single picture, obviously taken of the group unawares as they sat in the long grass besides the lake.

Three boys and three girls lazed back, with their study books open and ignored, as they chattered animatedly. One girl faced the camera, her red hair spilling from its holds.

_Rose_, thought Hermione, peering closer.

'Which of these girls is Vivian?' she asked, sidetracked as she studied Rose, something about her seemed different in the photo.

Rose looked away from the mirror. 'Oh, none of them. Vivian was taking the picture.' She shrugged and took the brush from her mother's hand.

Hermione stepped back and turned to the door. Then it hit her, Rose had been laughing. In the photo Rose's head had been thrown back in unashamed laughter, a sound Hermione struggled to remember. But looked to be carefree and loud.

A small part inside of her sunk a little as she remembered Rose's quiet reservedness earlier at the Burrow.

'Rose?'

'Yeah?'

'You can owl that girl Vivian, invite her to the New Year's Party,' Rose looked up in disbelief which quickly morphed into a large grin.

'Really? Thanks mum,' Hermione smiled and closed the door behind her and waited for the lock to click shut. Hermione rested her head on the door and let out a long sigh.

**Review please :)**

**I would like some feedback on how to improve this chapter.**


	9. Chapter 9

Ok! Hopefully I'm back. I know it's been ages since my last update, but due to some personal issues writing really hasn't been my top priority. But sorry for the giant delay, and (fingers crossed) I should be updating again. This is kind of a set up chapter.

I hope you enjoy it!

**Disclaimer: Never have, never will, own Harry Potter.**

Snow glistened like tiny diamonds clinging to the field of grass in the Potter's back garden. Several blue-looking gnomes trudged through the ice, back into their gnome holes for the night. Inside, my parents, family and their friends laughed loudly as George poured everyone another round of rich red wine.  
The New Year's party had been a tradition for as long as I could remember. Harry and Ginny would invite as many of their old school friends as they could, and all of them would become steadily drunker as the New Year approached.

'Alright,' Vivian said wickedly, spinning an empty bottle of Butter beer onto the table. 'Celia, truth or dare?'

'Truth?' Celia Macmillan replied uncertainly, eyeing the bottle as it slowed, claiming her as the first victim.

Being relived of babysitting duty after all the youngsters had been put to bed, Vivian, Celia Macmillan, Kate Finnegan and I had settled ourselves outside on the veranda, huddled around one of mum's bluebell flames, which sat on the table.

'Is it true?' Kate asked, her eyebrow raised. 'That you snogged Jonas Schmidt behind the Three Broomsticks?' Celia flushed a delicate pink.

'Ooh, I think she did!' Vivian sang out, which only made Celia flush an even deeper shade of red and bury her face into her hands.

'Yes,' she mumbled mortified.

Celia Macmillan was in my grade, but in Hufflepuff. From what I knew of her from our yearly meetings, she was sweet enough but lacked any real opinions, leaving her seem rather 2-D. Though she and Albus seemed to get on quite well at school. Kate, on the other hand, was Shawn's younger sister and a fourth year Ravenclaw. I liked her a lot, she was witty and sarcastic with a dry sense of humour. She was quite infamous around our year for cursing Henry Kemp's balls so that they shrivelled to the size of sultanas. He had it coming though.

'Rose, truth or dare?' she asked, as the bottle landed on me.

'Truth,' I replied easily. Vivian rolled her eyes.

'This is getting boring,' she grumbled.

'Did any of you guys go to the Snitch Screamer's concert last weekend?' I asked.

'I did,' Vivian said. 'With Howard Avery,' she smiled.

'Howard is such a creep!' I frowned, holding my fingers to the flame. 'Why did you go with him?'

'He's good looking. Fit. A decent snog,' she counted off on her fingers with a wink. 'Not to mention filthy rich.'

'His brother has a thing for you Rose,' Kate mused, dusting off a layer of ice from the table top.

I choked.

'What?' I asked stupidly. Vivian grinned evilly.

'Really?' she asked, Kate nodded.

'I overheard him talking about it with Marshall Gauds before Charms.'

Rudolph Avery was widely considered to be the hottest most edible boy at Hogwarts to the female and homosexual population. He was tall, dark, with strong shoulders and thick arms that made you drool.

'He's _very_ good looking,' Celia commented with a sigh.

'Understatement of the year,' Vivian licked her lips, Kate nodded in agreement.

I shook my head. 'I've never even talked to the guy!' I protested.

'Apparently he has a thing for girls who are into Quidditch,' Kate shrugged.

'Plus you're smoking hot, Rose,' Vivian added. 'We've just got to get you talking to him and you'll have a date before the next Hogsmeade trip.' I looked at her doubtfully.

Luckily the conversation was interrupted by the opening of the back door.

'Well, well, well, what do we have here?' Shawn grinned down at the group of girls. Behind him Louis, Simon Macmillan, Albus and Diana Thomas squeezed through, donning on their coats.

Shawn spies the bottle lying on the table and shakes his head.

'How about some real fun?' he asks, pulling a large bottle of firewhiskey from the folds of his coat. He winks as Diana shoves it back into his coat and glances nervously back at the door.

'I'm game,' I say, jumping up from the icy chair. Vivian bites her lip, torn between a little fun and her pureblood dignity.

'You'll be up for it I'm sure sis,' Shawn smirks at Kate, who shrugs and rises from the table. I watch as Vivian hovers momentarily in the position between sitting and standing.

'Ok,' she says with a little false bravo. 'This game was getting dull anyway.'

'No thanks,' Celia says.

'You sure?' Louis asks her. Simon elbows him in the chest.

'She's not of age yet,' he reminds Louis.

'Yeah, neither is Vivian, Kate or Rose,' he points out.

'She's my little sister,' Simon growls. 'I'll not letting her touch that stuff.' Louis raises his hands in surrender.

'I'm sure,' Celia says. 'I'll go find Lucy and Molly.' She gets up and heads inside to the kitchen.

The door closes with a click and Shawn gestures for us to move further from the house, out of view from the windows. We settle in a patch of clovers under a large willow that remains uncovered by snow.

'Well kiddies,' Shawn says with a glint in his eye, 'Nice of you to join the big kids.' With a pop the cork comes out.

Louis took the bottle from his hands and took a large gulp.

'Now, Truth or Dare?'

**Please Review!**


	10. Chapter 10

**Ok, sorry it is taking me so long to update, but I'm not sure how long it will be before I can get regular updates going.**

**THANK YOU TO EVERYONE WHO REVIEWED.**

**Disclaimer: not mine**

It wasn't so much Truth or Dare, as plain Truth. The bottle of firewhiskey passed around the circle multiple times as people were targeted with the most embarrassing questions Shawn could come up with.

Albus admitted to sneaking his broom into Hogwarts in first year, then flying it into a tree one night and told his parents he lost it. Vivian had turned red and divulged exactly how far she'd gone with Howard Avery. Kate admitted to cheating on her History of Magic exam, and didn't regret it. Diana shrugged her shoulders as she'd confirmed to never have kissed a boy...or girl. I'd managed to pull through with very few scrapes and dignity still intact.

'Louis,' Shawn said wickedly. 'Who was the last person you snogged?' Louis blushed a brilliant red colour, that was followed by a round of cat calls.

'Well, who was it?' Diana probed. Louis growled and took a large swing of whiskey. Curiously Shawn sat up, a few leaves falling from his hair.

'Come on, mate which of your girls was it?' Albus and I snickered at Shawn's mention of Louis' fan club. Seriously these girls were worse than the paparazzi sometimes, sneaking into the boy's dormitories to go through his things and squealing unintelligibly to each other. I swear some of them sleep with a pair of his boxes under their pillows.

Turning redder still Louis passed on the bottle.

'Oh, it must have been someone awful,' Vivian grinned.

'Marcy Jenkins?' Albus asked. Shawn visibly retched.

'Don't even joke about that man,' he stuck his tongue out.

'Erica Mallory?' Albus grinned evilly.

'Man that girl is hot as!' Shawn grinned, raising the bottle in cheers to him.

'Oh, please,' Kate rolled her eyes. 'That girl has the IQ of a flubberworm.'

'Sis, with a chest like hers, thank goodness she isn't smarter than a flubberworm,' Shawn said passing me the bottle. I took a large gulp and pass it off to Vivian. The liquor doesn't burn so much after the first few sips.

'She asked Tori Maxwell if she could "yank his wand",' Diana said with a disgusted look on her face, as if that settled the point.

'I wish you'd yank my wand,' Shawn said, leering at her. Diana's hand came down with a hard thwack! on the back of Shawn's head.

'Anyway,' I cut in. 'Louis, you still have a question to answer,' I raised my eyebrows and smirked.

'This is a fucking stupid game,' he scowled, getting up from the grass and stalking off into the darkness. Albus caught my eye and raised his eyebrows.

Shawn shrugged off Louis' odd behaviour and turned to the next person.

'Simon,' Simon who'd been strangely quiet for the past few minutes looked wary. 'Last snog?' Simon tinged pink.

'You know what, I'm going to find out where Louis got too,' he said, following Louis' footsteps in the snow.

'What's with them?' Vivian asked. I shrugged. Kate looked thoughtful.

'Didn't Louis have that thing with Jessica Loyde?' Albus nodded. 'Didn't Simon go to Hogsmeade with her before the holidays?'

'You think he's jealous?' I asked. 'Or not over her?'

Kate shrugged. 'Maybe.'

'I don't know,' Diana said. 'I'm in their year and that's happened before. Simon taking the rebound.'

'Maybe he's grown out of his player ways?' Kate asked.

'Who knows,' Shawn asked, bored.

'Alright,' I said, bring the conversation back to the game. 'Shawn is it true you offered to make up for your T in Astronomy with sexual favours?'

'Yep,' he said straight out. 'Got a month of detentions for it,' he grinned.

'How about you Rosie?' Albus asked with a smirk. 'How many secrets are you hiding under there?' I stuck my tongue out at him.

'Nothing. Not a thing,' I quip back.

'Well that just can't be true. There is no such thing as a boring Slytherin,' Shawn mock-frowned.

I held out my hands and smiled. 'Sorry, what you see is what you get.'

Albus took the firewhiskey from Diana and lifted it to his lips.

'Damn, we're out,' he frowned, shaking the bottle. Shawn swore.

'Don't worry,' Kate said. 'We'll just ask Teddy to get us another one, like last year.'

'Nah, he won't,' Diana frowned. 'We asked him for some earlier, said something about how drinking was dangerous and who did we think he was?' she shook his head.

'Him and Vic have gotten so boring,' Shawn groaned. 'They get a job and all of a sudden become hypercritical adults, it's not like they weren't out here with us last year.'

'I think he got to James as well,' Diana asked. 'I went to ask him, Fred and Frank, but they passed. They all want to be on Teddy's good side.'

'Ha! Once we're back at Hogwarts how long do you reckon that will last?' Kate joked dryly.

'How'd you get the whiskey then?' Albus asked.

'Easy enough,' Shawn shrugged. 'Once your rents were drunk enough I snuck into the kitchen. They won't miss it.'

A loud shout echoed across the yard from the house. We turned to watch as people cheered from inside and a few multi-coloured sparks shot out the chimney.

'Happy New Year,' I said.

()

I pushed through the hallway trying to navigate myself to a empty compartment.

'So how was your holiday, Weasley?' Scorpius asked, trailing behind me, carrying both our trunks.

'Eventful,' I told him over my shoulder. 'Yours?'

'Never been duller, of course at least I'm not the one who showed up to school for the new term with a hangover,' I glanced back over my shoulder to give is smirking face the finger when the compartment beside us opened.

Rudolph Avery emerged, already dressed in his school robes, and looking particularly edible. I thanked merlin I'd bothered to cover my dark rings with muggle concealer that morning.

'Rose Weasley,' he nodded with a smile. My breath caught in my throat.

'Rudolph Avery,' I grinned back, hoping I looked charming and unfazed. His head twitch in Scorpius' direction in acknowledgment.

'Malfoy, do you mind giving me a moment with Rose?' I shivered as my name rolled off his tongue, it sound so glamorous. Scorpius scowled and took off down the hall with our bags.

Rudolph turned back to me and licked his lips. I raised my eyebrow, a trick I learnt from Vivian that made you appear cool and important.

'I was hoping you'd accompany me to Hogsmeade next weekend?' he asked, an image of the perfect gentleman.

'I suppose I could,' I replied evenly. He raised his eyebrow and smiled. I liked that smile.

**I promise you there will be some Scorpius/Rose in the next chapter!**

**Review and let me know what you think :)**


	11. Chapter 11

**I'm sorry everyone with the massive delay in my updating due to personal and family issues, I can only hope that things have settled for the moment and I can continue writing.**

**For everyone wondering Rose is in her 3rd year at Hogwarts, making her 14 years old.**

**Thank you to everyone for reviewing.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter... in this dimension.**

'That arrogant, slimy toadstool of a nitwit boy!' I roared, angrily knocking over a stack of books as I stormed through the library, earning myself a loud hush and death glare from Madam Price. Fuming I sat myself down in an empty seat in the herbal health section, my arms tightly crossed over my chest.

'Rose?' a hesitant voice asked.

'What?' I snapped looking over my shoulder to find Scorpius poking his head between the rows of books.

'Are you ok?' he asked, moving a ruffled looking book to get a clearer view.

'I'm just chipper,' I growled.

'You don't look it.'

'Well what tipped you off Sherlock?' Scorpius gave me a quizzical look and opened his mouth before thinking better of it and closing it again, resembling a fish.

'Well for starters you are in the library, which must be some kind of warning of the oncoming apocalypse,' he said airily, flicking through a leather bound book entitled '400 uses for boiled Bubotuber'. I stifled a smirk.

'If that's the case you'd better start running,' I growled.

'Come on, what's with the face?' he prodded.

'Why do you care?'

'Well for starters I rather know whose blood I'm scrubbing off the walls,' he lifted a transparent eyebrow.

'Rudolph's and you won't be cleaning up anyone's blood,' I smirked. 'I'm too good to leave anything behind.'

'Of course,' he winked. 'So want happened?'

'I found him snogging Melanie Burbank's brains out in the broom closet down stairs.' I said bluntly, keeping my eyes on the hem of my blouse.

'Oh,' Scorpius managed after a silent moment.

'If you don't mind,' I stood up. 'I think I'm going to lie down for a bit.'

'Yeah sure,' Scorpius said, stepping around the shelves. 'Let me walk you back.'

We walked in a heavy silence down the flights of stairs leading to the dungeons, stopping at the common room door.

'Well, I'll leave you here,' he said finally.

'Ok, yeah sure,' I said with a halfhearted smile. We stood there for a moment longer. Before I could register what was happening Scorpius closed the distance between us a planted a soft kiss on my surprised mouth. I let out a small gasp, and nearly as quickly he pulled away, eyes closed.

'Sorry,' he said wincing. 'I really didn't mean to, I mean, I'm not really all that good at comforting and it was the only thing I could think of and I wasn't thinking and...sorry,' he rambled as I pulled myself out of my state of surprise.

'A Malfoy not thinking, well that's a surprise,' I smirked, brushing off the situation. Scorpius' cheeks went a faint pink as he smiled sheepishly.

'I'm sorry, I didn't mean anything by it,' he said, rubbing the back of his neck.

'Don't worry about it,' I said. 'No foul.' He nodded.

'Anyway, I should be going before all the mash has gone,' he said, gesturing up the hallway to the Great Hall where students would be assembling for dinner.

'Oh, yeah, bye.'

'Bye.'

I watched him stride down the hallway, honestly just a little sorry to see him go as I collected my thoughts together and made myself comfortable in bed.

Waking up to find Rudolph with a broken nose at breakfast the next morning.

**Firstly I'm sorry for any grammar or spelling mistakes, my laptop doesn't have spellcheck and I was so focused on just getting another chapter up!**

**I hope you guys enjoyed the little twist, please Review!**


	12. Chapter 12

**Ok, so I know that last chapter was a little bit half-arsed, but here I am updating again, so hopefully this chapter will be a little better. Also I've resigned myself to accepting that I'm not going to be able to do frequent updates, sorry guys but still I hope you stick with me.**

**As always no spell check, so forgive my mistakes.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter**

It weird when someone starts avoiding you, at first it's not all that noticeable, but then after a few weeks it begins to gnaw at your side like a nasty bug bite.

Not that Scorpius was obviously ignoring me. It was just the little things, like how he no longer sought me out to talk or made any kind of eye contact and went to a conscious effort to not sit next to me. It's not something anyone else really would pick up on.

It was annoying really, because the more he avoided me, the more I wanted to reach out and have his attention. Not that I gave that away, I didn't want to look desperate or needy.

The only thing I could trace these awkward feelings back to was the kiss. He said it hadn't meant anything though, we'd parted as friends and I'd been particularly careful to act like nothing had happened. So why be so embarrassed?

It irked me to no end.

Three weeks after the kissing incident I sat down in the Slytherin change rooms, wearing my new, crisp, green beater robes.

'Right team,' Shawn began, enthusiastically gathering them around. 'This is the first game of the season against Gryffindor, and we have to go out there and show them that this season that they will see a fight from us for that cup. So play hard and fast, don't let them push you around. And win.' He gave us a look that suggested an unspoken _or else_.

As we gathered up our kit Shawn pulled me aside. 'Rosie you ready for this?' he asked. I nodded. 'Ok, now I know a few of your family will be out there today, either playing or supporting and I don't want that to put you off your game,' he said seriously.

'Don't worry,' I replied. 'I'm good.' Shawn nodded and we followed the rest of the team out to the pitch.

I mounted my broom as the Gryffindor team circled the pitch, in honor of their current position holding the cup.

_'Last years winners...Weasley, Louis...Potter, James...Macmillian, Simon...Fallon, Celeste...Weasley, Molly...Johnson, Kael. I give you Gryffindor!'_

A loud cheer erupted from the stadium as the two teams took their places. Holding desperately onto my borrowed bat I waited for the whistle.

'_And there they go! The Quaffles passed to Fallon, intercepted by...'_

The commentator's voice faded quickly into the background as my heart pumped with excitement. The first half passed as a mere blur with Gryffindor leading by 30 points at half time. Shawn energetically gave us tips and changed tactics.

'Rose, you've got a good arm on you, but put a little more shoulder into it for maximum strength alright?' I nodded, trying out a few practice swings.

_'Johnson passes to Weasley... all three chases closing in towards the unprotected Slytherin ring.'_

A bludger passed on my left side, speeding quickly towards the Slytherin Keeper, whose head was turned towards the Quaffle. With a mighty thwack, I lunged at the ball, sending it in the opposite direction.

My smile faltered as I watched it roll through the air towards a familiar red head. Time seemed to suddenly speed up and slow down at the same time as I struggled to find my voice and yell. The bludger came in contact with her shoulder, clipping the side of the head as it roared past.

The entire stadium seemed to hold its breath as Molly tumbled off the broom and plummeted towards the ground. Celeste Fallon, the third chaser swooped in from beneath and clumsily caught Molly before she hit the ground.

In the confusion, the Slytherin seeker swooped through the air and snatched the snitch up from behind the goal posts. This seemed to pull the crowd out from their anxious state as they began to boo and hiss and the players dropped to the ground.

A smaller crowd had surrounded Molly as she was carried by a teacher up to the Hospital Wing. Stunned myself, all I wanted to do was push my way through the masses of people to Molly's side and see if she was ok. Beg for her forgiveness and explain that it was just a game, I didn't mean to. I didn't mean to.

Shawn led the team into the change rooms, patting them on the back for a well-played game. I wandered in last, to catch the team huddling around. Shawn nodded towards the door, dismissing me from the post-game debriefing.

Dumping my belongings in the girl's change room (As the only girl member of the team there was no worrying about leaving mess), I hurriedly made my way back to the castle and towards the Hospital Wing.

However before as I reached the door I found it blocked by Dominique and Roxanne. As I come into their view Dom's worried face contorted in disgust.

'What,' she began scathingly. 'Are you doing here?' Roxanne at her side, silent and looking anywhere but at me. I stepped back.

'I came to see if Molly is alright,' moving around them to the door, but Dom is faster than she looks and grabbed hold of my arm. Hard.

'Sorry,' her nails dig into my skin so I knew she's wasn't sorry at all. 'Visits are currently reserved for _family_.' I looked at her in shock.

'It was an accidently Dom,' I said coolly.

'Don't make me repeat myself. Family only. So why don't you just go slither back down to your friends,' she says in a sickly sweet voice, taking Roxanne's arm, who looked mildly embarrassed.

'Fine,' I said before turning back the way I came, shell-shocked and hurt.

Down four flights of stairs I leant back again the stone wall of the Dungeons, attempting to regain a sense of calm before going back to enjoy the celebrations. Taking a deep breathe I closed my eyes and counted to 10 in my head, an old trick of mum's when Hugo or I missed behaved.

'Are you alright?' I opened my eyes in surprise to find Scorpius staring at me quizzically. Realizing I must look a little silly I quickly straightened, fighting off the genetically ingrained Weasley blush.

'Yeah,' I said, not even convincing myself. Scorpius pressed his back up against the wall beside me, his arm brushing against mine which was surprisingly warm.

'What's the matter?' he asked nudging me.

'My family hates me,' I groaned letting my head bang against the cold stone. 'Because of Molly.'

'I'm sure they don't,' Scorpius murmured quietly. 'Maybe a little upset, but its Quidditch. Injuries happen and a broken collar bone, that's hardly the worst. They'll come to their senses.' I rested my head on his shoulder, soaking up his deep reassuring voice with hope, enjoying the comfortable company.

A comfort that was disrupted as Vivian and Eva came laughing around the corner.

'Oh,' Eve said taking in the sight of Scorpius and I alone in the corridor. 'Are we interrupting...?'

'No,' Scorpius and I said hurriedly, stepping away from each other, suddenly realizing that this was our first conversation in weeks. Vivian looked thoughtfully back and forth between us before smiling and taking ahold of my arm.

'Well then, sorry Scorpius, but we're going to have to borrow this lovely lady from you,' she winked playfully. 'She has a celebratory party to get ready for.'

Scorpius jokingly tipped his imaginary hat at us in acceptance before Vivian dragged me off like a rag doll. Finally coming to a stop inside our dorm she pulled me onto the bed with her.

'Rose,' she began with a Slytherin glint in her feline eyes. 'Do you like Scorpius?'


	13. Chapter 13

**Thank you to my lovely reviewers! I hope you like this chapter as much as I like you **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter**

_Did I like Scorpius?_ I asked myself as I smoothed my hand over the velvet purple dress Vivian had lent me for the victory party._ I couldn't, _I reasoned with myself. He's too reserved, shy. I needed someone bolder, someone lively than him. I suppose he was a nice guy, a good friend too despite our distance the past few weeks. And no one could deny he was a looker. But that didn't necessarily mean I had feelings for him, did it?

I could see Vivian watching me from the corner of my eye as I turned to the bathroom mirror and pinned the last of my escaping curls in place.

'You know, if you like him you can just say so,' Vivian said, coming up behind me for one last check that her own black dress was in place. I sighed.

'I don't know how I feel about him, Vivian,' I said pointedly, hoping she would take the hint a drop it. Ignoring me she continued.

'Well how about finding out then?' she looked at me. 'Okay, look. You don't have to commit to the guy if you're not sure. But maybe just have a little fun tonight, dance, drink, kiss,' she said with a wink. 'Then, if you don't feel anything you'll know for sure and the problem's solved.' I frowned, unconvinced, but I couldn't deny that the suggestion didn't totally unappeal to me.

'It'll be fine,' she said smiling.

'What if I do end up snogging him and then decide I don't have feelings for him?' I asked.

'Then you just tell him you were really drunk and that even though you like him as a friend you're not interested,' she said in an all-knowing tone. I raised my eyebrow at her.

'And if he's not interested in me?'

'Oh, he is,' Vivian smiled confidently. 'And if he's not you don't have a problem. But he is.'

'Okay,' I said with a nervous nod.

'Okay?'

'Okay.'

()

It was my first real party in the Slytherin Common Room since I arrived at Hogwarts. Rules usually dictate within Slytherin house that only fourth years and above are allowed to attend the afterhours parties, which really, are the only ones worth going to. But being on the Quidditch team meant that I, and the other third years were also invited. Which was getting me a lot of praise.

It was nothing like what James had described the Gryffindor parties being like, it was still rowdy and loud, but music was playing and people were dancing and drink while magical lights flickered in different colours around the room. I couldn't help my own heart beating in time with the music as I search the crowd for Scorpius.

'Over there,' Vivian whispered into my ear, nodding towards the blonde standing against the back wall, watching the older kids dance. Taking a deep breath I allowed Vivian to push me through the dancers towards him. It took longer than anticipated with people stopping me every few steps to congratulate me on the win.

Finally I found myself standing against the wall beside him.

'Hey,' I smiled, nudging him with my elbow.

'Hi,' he grinned. 'Great party.'

'Yeah I know,' I agreed. 'You guys are lucky I let you come with me,' I teased.

'Lucky?' Scorpius asked in mock outrage. 'You had to invite us, who knows what would have happened in your sleep if you didn't?'

'I don't even want to know,' I laughed. 'Vivian is too imaginative for her own good sometimes.' he nodded and took a gulp of his drink.

'Think I need another one of these,' he said. 'Can I get you anything?'

'Yeah,' I smiled. 'Whatever you're having.'

'Cool, wait here okay?'

I smiled as I watched Scorpius disappear into the throng of bodies, feeling my stomach back-flip just a little.

A few moments later I felt a tap on my arm. Turning around I was surprise to find not Scorpius, but James.

'James! What are you doing her? How did you even get in?'

'I have my ways,' he replied mysteriously. 'What are you wearing anyway?' he said, eyeing my attire with a frown. 'Isn't that a little old for you? Not to mention you're underage.'

'James, don't you start. I remember New Years back when you were my age, you threw up on a garden gnome,' I said. 'And I'm sure you haven't come to criticize my outfit.' I crossed my arms with a glare.

James made a sound of agreement. 'They aren't too happy with you upstairs about what happened today,' he began. Furiously I began to state my case.

'Shut up and let me finish,' he said, cutting me off. 'I know you were just playing for your team, like anybody would in your position. And they shouldn't have expected anything else from you. But there will be some damage control, and I don't just mean from today,' he paused for a moment, weighing his words.

'What do you mean then?' I snapped.

'I mean that, you don't act like you're a part of the family anymore Rose,' he said sadly. 'You don't act like you want to be a part of us, which I think has hurt a few people. I love you Rose, and I know you love us too, but I think if you want to start repairing the relationships you're going to need to start acting like it.'

He looked at me seriously. 'Do you understand what I mean?'

'You want me to be more like you,' I repeated stubbornly.

'No Rosie,' he said taking my arm as I looked away. 'What I mean is, just spend some time with family, join us for Weasley Sunday brunches, come say hi sometimes, write letter home,' he squeezed my hand and took a deep breath. 'And most importantly, you have to stop doing things that purposefully upset people.'

I jerked my hand back. 'Just because I'm a Slytherin doesn't make me a cruel person.' I snapped.

'No,' James acknowledged. 'But Rose, you are an attention seeker, I'm sure that's partly why you were sorted into Slytherin. You like to shock people, get a reaction out of them when you do things. And maybe you don't do it intentionally sometimes, but you're distancing yourself from your family because of it, because you want to be different. But you can be different a still a Weasley,' James smiled and took my hand. 'Do you understand?' I nodded as I fought back the tears glistening in my eyes, a little sore at the things that had hit home.

Despite what people say about James being a bigheaded pig, he does have a gift with people. He just gets them, which is probably why he gets along with everyone, and why he's always been one of my favourite people. Even though we don't speak much these days.

He wrapped his arms around me. 'Shush, it's okay, it's okay,' he said soothingly. 'I'm not telling you to do anything you don't want to do. I'm just giving some free advice, do with it what you please.' I smiled and nodded.

'Thanks James.'

'Anytime love,' he pulled out of the hug. 'Anyway I better get out of here before I get bitten,' he stuck out his tongue teasingly. 'Who knows, Slytherin-ness might be contagious.' With a wave he went back the way he came.

'Was that James?' Scorpius asked, reappearing at my side with two drinks.

'Yeah,' I said, rolling James' word around in my head taking the cup Scorpius offered. We stood silently for a few minutes, which I was thankful for because James had given me a lot to think about. After a while Scorpius turned to me.

'Would you like to dance?' he asked with a smile, gesturing towards the dance floor.

And I knew I had to make a decision. Rebuild relationships with my family or take a chance with Scorpius, a guy I might have feelings for? I didn't need to think twice about it, and my decision was made.

'Actually,' I said with a frown. 'I think I'm getting a bit of a headache, I might just have an early one. It's been a long day.' I smiled wanly at Scorpius' disappointed frown as I said my goodnights.

At the top of the stairs I looked back at the party over my shoulder, just in time to see Vivian give me a sad look before turning back to her current interest. But when I put my head to my pillow and began to drift off I knew, for the time being, I'd made the right choice.

**Reviews are always much loved**


	14. Chapter 14

**I know a few readers aren't keen on how the last chapter played out, but we're only halfway through so stick with me! I hope this chapter makes up for it. And thanks to everyone who reviewed and your feedback.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter**

'What was that all about?' Vivian hissed in my ear as she shook me awake. I groaned in response as I rolled over to find her dark figure sitting on my bed.

'What?' I replied groggily, rubbing my eyes. Vivian shushed me and gestured towards the closed curtains of Eva and Grace's beds.

'What was what about?' I repeated in a whisper.

'That whole thing with James and then you ditching Scorp?' she frown, her voice rising with frustration.

'I'm making amends with my family,' I told her. 'I'm adopting the policy of appeasement for a while.'

'So you left Scorpius out there like a kicked puppy because you want to make your family happy?' Vivian repeated disgustedly.

'Look, I didn't even know if I actually had feelings for him or not, and if he does have feelings for me like you think, then I'm just leading him on.' I explained. 'And yes I want to make my family happy.'

'So you're just going to give up and do whatever they want you to do like a good little Weasley?' she hissed. 'Become a little Weasley clone? Smile make your family think you're a good little girl, do your school work. Maybe even transfer over to Gryffindor? I'm sure your uncle could work something out.'

'Don't you dare give me that crap Vivian,' I growled. 'It's not like you fucking pureblood families are any different. You do what you're mummy says, you wear the dresses she buys you, you date other pureblood boys that she would approve of, do the subjects your father picks for you so that one day you can take over the family business and have more perfectly pureblood babies.' I spat.

There was a pregnant pause as we sat in the silence mulling over the words spoken.

'We really aren't a very ambitious bunch then, are we?' Vivian mused. I giggled quietly into my pillow, knowing that for the moment we were okay. Vivian crawled into bed beside me.

'I miss them Viv,' I told her as we looked at each other from either side of the pillow. 'I miss James, Albus, Lily, my mum, my dad, even Hugo. I miss feeling like a part of that family, no matter how crazy they are sometimes.'

'I know,' Vivian whispered back. 'Just don't let them change you. After all you look so much better in green.' I laughed quietly as we drifted into a soft sleep.

()

**-****Flashback****-**

_Rose looked nervously up at the giant castle that loomed over the gaggle of first year's heads. The same look of awe was plastered across each of their faces as they caught sight of their new home for the first time._

_'It's even better than I imagined,' her cousin Albus whispered as the bobbed along in their tiny wooden boat. Rose could do nothing but nod in agreement. _

_As the group made their way into the castle and through the Great Hall, Rose could feel her stomach begin to tie itself in knots as she anxiously stared straight ahead at the lip tattered hat that would be the decider of her future. With the swarm of butterflies in her stomach she didn't feel particularly brave, or clever. _Hufflepuff wouldn't be too bad_; she supposed swallowing a lump in her throat._

_As names began to be called someone behind her poked her in the back._

_'Ow, what was that for?' Rose asked, glaring at the blond hair boy._

_'What did he do?' Albus asked turning also to face the boy._

_'Sorry,' the boy stammered, wide eyed. 'You're Harry Potter's son!' he gasped in amazement. 'And you're Ron and Hermione Weasley's daughter!' He pointed, causing a few other first years to turn and stare._

_Rose straightened and coolly looked the boy over. 'Actually, it's Rose Weasley. And this is my cousin, Albus,' a note of superiority slipped its way into her introduction._

_Albus smiled ruefully at the boy and turned back with to watch the sorting._

_It felt like only a heartbeat later that professor Longbottom had reached Potter, Albus. The hall fell silent with a hush as they eagerly watch the sorting of Harry Potter's middle child._

_The hat fell over Albus's eye and Rose held her breath for the few moments it took the hat to yell out Gryffindor! Albus smiled as he joined the rest of the family in the table decked out in scarlet and gold._

_He waved at Rose who smiled back nervously, crossing her fingers in the pockets of her robes._

_'Weasley, Rose!' professor Longbottom called. Rose took a deep breath and calmly moved to meet her fate. The last thing she saw as the hat fell over her eyes was Uncle Neville smiling brightly at her. _

_'Ah__,__ another Weasley! The lot of you breed like rabbits.' a voice echoed through Rose's head. _Yeah, yeah_ she thought scornfully, _off to Gryffindor I go_._

_'Now what's the hurry girl?' the hat asked. 'You're a bright one, just like your mother. But not hardworking enough for the likes of Ravenclaw or Hufflepuff.' Rose nodded silently in agreement._

_'You've got a lot of nerve, determination and pride. Stubborn in true Weasley form.' __  
_So Gryffindor? _Rose repeated boredly._

_'What did I say about hurrying girl?' the hat huffed. 'Those aren't just Gryffindor traits you know. I think Slytherin would you well.' Rose sat in silence and the hat mused. 'You don't seem particularly opposed to the idea Miss Weasley, that is a first.'_

Why Slytherin?_ Rose asked nervously._

_'You love the fame and attention that life has brought you, enough that it has stirred you to search for your own glory. You have ambition like any Slytherin I've ever seen, and you are a resourceful girl. But most importantly,' the hat whispered into her ear. 'You want to set yourself a part and achieve great things. The likes of which you could not do in any house but Slytherin!' the hat called out over the Great Hall. _

_In the few seconds of silence Rose found herself smiling slyly in a moment of utter insanity as she made her way past her__ family's shocked stares to the table decked in green. _

**I hope you like it, Reviews are appreciated **


	15. Chapter 15

**I know some of you were a little bit wary after the last chapter, but hopefully this helps understand where the story is going. I just needed to find a way to skip ahead a few years and to establish the family and friends relationships.**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

**SIXTH YEAR**

_Spotted: The ever lovely Rose Weasley (daughter of Ron and Hermione) was seen making regular appearances in Diagon Alley during her Christmas holidays, accompanied by her friend and cousin, Albus Potter. The two were pictured (left) leaving Flourish and Blotts. Rose wears a blue sundress designed by her up and coming designer cousin, Victoire Lupin. Both Potter and Weasley will be returning to their 6th year at Hogwarts after the break._

'That makes the total for this holiday, me 4, Rose 5 and Lily 7,' Albus laughed as he counted off his fingers, pushing the article across the breakfast table for me to see.

'At least it's not a bad picture,' I said, scrutinizing the photo in Witch Weekly.

'Are you kidding?' Albus laughed, 'My eyes are closed.'

'I guess you just aren't as photogenic as Lily and I,' I said as Albus took the article back.

'Ha-ha,' he replied sarcastically. 'Luckily I don't care about the stupid competition you girls have got going.'

'There is no competition,' I replied lazily, rolling my eyes as I put my cereal bowl into the kitchen sink.

'You all say that, but we all know that's not the case,' Albus joked, poking me in the side. 'I know you all check the paper's every morning to see who's been photographed the most. Lily keeps the running tally written up in the back of her diary,' he grinned.

'Do you have any decency?' I asked.

'Hey!' Albus said, bringing his hand to his heart in an attempt to look offended. 'Gryffindor's take pride in their honor and ability to do the right thing. Which is more than what they can say about you snake,' he added with a grin.

'I won't hit you for that, but only because I'm told you're not supposed to hit girls,' I replied seriously.

'Really, you just can't stay mad at this face,' he said, breaking out his notorious puppy-dog eyes.

I stuck my tongue out at Al and attempted to smooth over his hair. He waved me off and proceeded to run his fingers through it, perfecting his constant bed-head look. I sighed, but I knew there was no point, Al's hair was too much like his father's to stay flat.

'You kid's all ready to go?' my mum asked, entering the kitchen. 'The train leaves in an hour. Albus, are we driving you this year?' She asked, collecting her keys as a sleepy looking Hugo stumbled in after her.

'Yep, Uncle Ron already put my stuff in the car boot.'

'Good, good,' she nodded. 'Well let's go everyone, the Hogwarts express waits for no one.'

()

The platform was as crowded as usual, with students and parents saying their goodbyes for another year. After a quick goodbye to my own family I found a carriage with Albus in the back of the train.

Albus stretched out across the booth and watched the waving families through the window.

'Not many of us Weasley's left this year,' he commented.

'Please,' I snorted, 'there is still James, Fred, Louis, Lily, Hugo you and I. I wouldn't exactly call that a small amount.'

'Well at least Molly and Dom aren't coming back for another year,' he grinned.

'Tell me about it,' I complained. 'At least she never spent all her free time breathing down your neck to make sure you behaved.'

'She wouldn't have done that if you didn't let her,' Albus replied.

'I didn't let her do anything,' I snapped.

'You're kidding, you acted like you were walking on egg shells around her,' he said looking up with wide eyes. 'Like you didn't want to upset her or something. "Yes Molly, no Molly, of course Molly, whatever you say!"' he mimicked.

'I did not!' I fumed, throwing a chocolate frog at him.

'Cheers,' he said lazily opening the packet. 'Yeah, you did. You were trying to keep the peace and get her approval so she would stop holding the fact you're friends with Slytherin's against you,' he stated matter-of-factly. Sometimes I think Al knows me too well.

'But now that you're free of that,' he began, 'you can start doing your own thing. Go party it up with crazy Slytherins, and invite me.' He winked, licking his delicious chocolate.

I laughed in response, but his comment hit a cord. When had I last seen my Slytherin friends? I had caught up with Vivian for a coffee over the summer, just the once. I owled Evie once or twice... I think. A cold feeling settled in my stomach, I had barely been in contact with my friends all summer. And truthfully, I had been distant long before that.

Although I hated Al for saying it, I had spent a lot of the last year trying to be a people pleaser. I'd spent more time with my cousins than ever, and the more time I'd spent with them, the less I had with my own housemates. I didn't even know what was going on in the boy's lives anymore.

But there had been positive outcomes of the last year, particularly my friendship with Al and a sense of belonging within the Weasley clan. Although sometimes I found myself drowning out the conversation when they started their repetitive and dull conversations about house parties and who copied who's homework.

'Earth to Rose?' Albus called, waving his hand in front of my face.

'Sorry,' I jumped. 'Zoned out.'

'Yeah, you do that a lot lately,' he frowned. 'I think someone's at the door for you.'

I looked up to see Evie and Duane give me a small smile and a wave. But before I had time to do more than return it they'd disappeared down the corridor.

'Is everything okay with you guys?' Albus asked concerned, watching my friend's retreating backs.

I groaned and moved to put my head on his shoulder. 'I just can't have the best of both worlds.'

**Please Review! I'd love to hear what you think and get some feedback.**


	16. Chapter 16

**Two updates in one week, I'm on a role! Thanks to dymitria for reviewing and hope you enjoy this next chapter.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter****.**

The first day of classes was surprisingly warm as the sun poured into the Great Hall. But it did nothing to improve the mood of the sleepy students that drizzled through the doors, not quiet used to waking up so early yet.

I stifled a yawn, sliding onto a bench next to my housemates.

'Morning,' I mumbled.

'Hey,' Duane replied, buttering his toast while chatting with Harper. 'We've just been working out try out times for Quidditch. Do you have any preferences?' he asked, proudly wearing the captain's pin on his shirt lapel.

'Not sure yet, they haven't given us our prefect patrol roster,' I commented while loading my plate with porridge and strawberries. I breathed in the smell deeply; one thing I definitely miss during the holidays is the food. Dad can be pretty nifty in the kitchen but it's nothing in comparison to the work a castle full of house elves.

'Congratulations on getting captain by the way.'

'Thanks,' Duane grinned, passing the pumpkin juice over to Harper. 'To be honest I thought you were going to get it.'

'They probably wanted to give it to someone a little more loyal to the team,' Harper injected with a smirk. 'Didn't want Rose going soft against her family, especially now her pretty-boy cousin is captain,' he added with some malice.

'I would never throw a game,' I replied, angrily getting to my feet. 'And I am loyal to the team.'

'You are Rose,' Duane said, putting his hand on my shoulder and gentle pushed me back into my seat as Harper sneered. 'He just means that because you're so close to the Gryffindor team you might not have been the best candidate.' Harper continued to smirk as he took Grace's hand and left the table. When did that happen? I wondered. Was I really so unaware and distant from my own friends that I didn't know the two were together?

Not feeling any better I returned to my porridge red faced. I considered asking Duane about it, but before I had the chance the rest of the cohort waltzed in for breakfast.

Vivian glided across the hall, her sleek black hair and cat eyes drew the attention of most of the wizard population, a quality that I envied and admired in her as we'd grown older. She was closely followed by Evie, who hadn't grown at all since third year which coupled with her long blonde hair and pointed ears she resembled an elf princess. I sighed, feeling as awkward and leggy as ever beside the two society girls.

The sight of Scorpius gave me a jolt of surprise. He'd grown a foot over the summer and filled out across the shoulders, he looked good. And he knew it. He swaggered behind the girls with a smirk on his face as the females of Hogwarts took in the delicious transformation. Scorpius didn't look like a little boy anymore.

The three of them made their way over to Duane and I, greasing off a group of second years who frantically scrambled out of the way so they could sit down.

'Hello,' Scorpius greeted us, his voice deeper than I remembered.

'Hey,' I smiled, hoping I didn't have any food stuck in my teeth. Mentally scolding myself I dragged my eyes away from his toned arms to the girls who sat down beside me.

'We were just talking about Augustine's goodbye dinner,' Evie informed me excitedly. 'Vivian's cousin, you know. It's a pity you didn't get to meet her Rose, it was such a laugh!'

The boy's chuckled in agreement. I shrugged; I didn't remembering receiving an invite to the goodbye party. I sighed sadly; I guess that's what you get after not accepting the last dozen.

'Yes, it's a pity you were so busy this summer,' Vivian agreed, although I sense a little bitterness in her words. 'It was brilliant.'

'When Scorpius and Grace got up on the table and started dancing!?' Duane tittered. 'That was spectacular!'

'Alright, alright,' Scorpius grumbled. 'Let's never repeat that shall we?'

The other continued to laugh and recount the events of the night. But all I could think of was how badly I'd messed this up; I wanted to be one of them again, to be laughing with them. But to pursue that would mean causing conflict within my family. Putting my head in my hands I watch my friends enviously as they talked happily, unaware, and probably used to my absence in their chatter.

()

After breakfast I made my way to Professor Kettleworth's office along with the rest of the sixth years to receive my timetable for the semester. Sadly, being 'W' for Weasley meant I was last.

Kettleworth's Deputy Headmistress office was large and impeccably clean, with a collection of ornate spoons dominating an entire wall.

'So Miss Weasley,' she began slowly, her bird-like eyes squinting down at the piece of paper in front of her. 'I see you achieved Es in most of your OWLs,' Kettleworth was the type who spoke so slowly that you think she must have fallen asleep between words.

'I take it you still want to continue with Transfiguration, Charms, Potions, Defense against the Dark Arts and Herbology...?' she droned.

'And Ancient Ruins and Divination, Miss.' I replied quickly.

She made a noise of agreement before charming the timetable to read my schedule.

'Before you go Miss Weasley,' Kettleworth droned as I made a motion to leave. 'I wanted to ask you if you had had any insight about your future since our last meeting?'

'No, Miss,' I replied, trying to look guilty.

'Very well then, you may go.' She hummed disappointedly.

How'd you go?' Al asked, taking my timetable before I could answer. Walking down the corridor away from the last few students waiting outside the office door I looked over his schedule as well.

'I've got Potions and Herbology with you,' I concluded, swapping papers with him.

'Why are you still doing Divination?' Al asked making a face. 'It's such a load of centaur shit.'

'You're still taking Astrology,' I counted making my own face. 'Who wants to get up early after that every Wednesday night?'

'It's an easy O,' Albus grinned. 'Still doesn't make sense why you're still doing Divination.'

'I guess it's my private way of rebelling against the image people have of me as a miniature Hermione,' I sighed dramatically. 'I'm a troubled child you know.'

Albus grinned. 'I always knew you were the one who'd go off the rails.'

'Says the closet bi-sexual,' I said raising my eyebrow, looking down the hall to make sure no one could over hear us. Al rolled his eyes and mimed zipping my lips, but he smiled so I knew I wasn't in trouble.

'I'll tell them you corrupted me, they'll believe that,' he laughed, messing up my hair good-naturedly.

I smirked and elbowed him in the gut.

'If I'm going down I'm taking you with me!'

**I hope you liked it! I needed something juicy on Albus just to make it a little more interesting ;)**

**Reviews are always welcome and appreciated!**


	17. Chapter 17

**Another update! I'm not entirely sure about this chapter, but I hope you enjoy it.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter**

The first week of classes flew by as professors began pushing buckets of information down our throats as a constant reminder that NEWTs were ahead of us. This resulted is an excessive amount of homework that had left me with no time to think about the position I had found myself in with my friends and family. Which continued to play tug of war in the back of my mind. But regrettably no insight had come to me by the time Sunday brunch had come around.

Sunday morning brunch had been a tradition even back when Victoire and Teddy were still students, one that I'd begun to partake in back in fourth year, much to the family's delight. Although there were significantly less Weasleys and Potters roaming the castle now, it was still expected that we'd take our places at the Gryffindor table for a Burrow-worthy feast every Sunday.

Unfortunately I'd woken up in a particularly bad mood the first Sunday back. It did not help that I'd slept late with no time to shower before hurrying to the Great Hall, and in my haste I'd miss the trick step and had to wait almost half an hour before anyone came past to pull me out.

When I finally reached the Gryffindor table I must have looked ready to kill someone, because Al silently passed me a bowl of hot porridge as I slid in next to him.

Sadly the rest of my delightful cousins didn't get the hint.

'You're late, Rosie,' James grumbled. 'The food was getting cold so we started without you.'

I grunted in response, pouring syrup over the porridge.

'You're sorry, I'm sure,' Lucy scowled.

'I slept late,' was my stiff explanation.

'A little courtesy next time,' she replied nastily. I only rolled my eyes, not in the mood to get into a clash of the infamous Weasley tempers. We were not morning people to say the least.

'Anyway,' James cut in changing the subject. 'Louis when's Quidditch try-outs?'

'Man!' Louis hissed in response, looking pointedly at me. 'Not in front of other houses!'

'Why does it matter?' I asked curiously. 'It's just try-outs, it's not like I haven't seen you play before.'

'Yeah, but we need two new beaters,' Louis replied defensively. 'I don't want Flint finding out and seeing our new members in action before the game. It's an unfair advantage.'

'You think I'd honestly do that?' I asked harshly, my eyebrows rose.

'I'm just saying,' Louis huffed, glaring across the room suspiciously. 'You're one of them. And Slytherin's a notorious for being cheats.'

'Oh shut up,' I replied irritably, standing from the table. 'You're just scared we'll pummel you're fairy asses into the ground again,' I glared, stalking out of the Great Hall.

Remind me again why I was trying so hard to be on good terms with my family? Why I'd even want to spend time with the insensitive, bias toe rags?

What was even the point? I sighed to myself. I didn't fit in with their way of life; so on top of each other there is no room to breathe. Maybe Al was right, maybe I am the one who's off the rails. Why I couldn't fit into their puzzle.

'Rose, wait!' I turned to find Al following after me, a half-eaten piece of toast in his hand. 'Couldn't you at least let me finish eating before storming out?' he asked exasperated.

'Why do you care?' I muttered. Al rolled his eyes.

'Don't be such a drama queen,' he reprimanded. 'And you shouldn't let your temper have its way with you like that. I know Louis doesn't know when to shut up, but you can't just storm away all the time!' he huffed, waving his hand around.

'I'm just so sick of it!' I fumed. 'I try to join in and feel like a part of this family, but I still feel like I'm the piece of the puzzle that just doesn't fit into the picture like it should!'

I could feel angry tears threatening to spill over. Do not cry, I repeated to myself.

'You all have your perfect little setup, you all get along so happily and nicely and I don't understand why I can't.'

Silently, Albus took my elbow and guided me into a nearby classroom, out of sight from prying eyes.

'I don't even like them,' I spat harshly as he closed the door behind him.

'Come here Rosie,' Al murmured wrapping his arms around me. I resisted for a moment before burying my head into his chest, letting a few tears run freely.

'And now I've ruined something I could have had with my friends for something I could never have with my own family,' I sobbed.

'Hey there,' Albus said calmly, putting his hands on my shoulders to look at me carefully. 'I'm sure that it's not that bad.'

Embarrassed, I wiped the tears from my eyes. 'It's pretty bad. I feel like I've wasted the last year of my life. I neglected my friends and now they barely talk to me, and I'm entirely to blame. I don't even like spending time with you lot.'

'Thanks,' Albus replied dryly.

'No, I didn't mean you,' I amended. 'You're probably the only good thing to come out of this whole mess.' He sighed and ran his hand through his hair.

'Rosie, listen to me carefully,' he said seriously. 'Because I want you to understand this. The things you do for your family you do because you are obligated to love them. You don't however, have to like them.'

'Huh?' Was my intelligent response.

'You've been trying so hard to make them like you for years, but you don't even like them yourself. This is okay. Do you think I like James or Molly? No, they drive me up the wall. But I put up with them because I love them. And they'll put up with you being in Slytherin because they love you, even though they don't like it. So you can go do whatever in Merlin's saggy balls you like. Understand?'

I nodded slowly, feeling a small weight lift off my shoulders. 'But that still doesn't fix the mess I've made of things.'

'Your friends will come around eventually, you just need to apologize and let them know you finally got your head screwed on.' Albus said, taking a seat in the front row of desks.

'How am I supposed to do that?' I groaned. 'They barely talk to me as it is.'

'They're probably just hurt and a little bitter about it. But if apologize I'm sure they'll understand that you've been through a confusing time in your life, and now you've come out the other side changed for the better. Like a beautiful butterfly,' he grinned.

I laughed weakly and took a seat beside him.

'How come it makes so much sense coming out of your mouth?' I wondered.

'I have infinite wisdom and you should listen to me more often young grasshopper,' he smirked.

'Ha-ha,' I groaned. 'And since when are you my psychiatrist? I thought I was the one who consoled you after a night of too much fire whiskey.'

Albus laughed. 'Because I already emerged from my cocoon of self-hatred into a beautiful bi-sexual butterfly, so now it's your turn.' I laughed and checked my watch.

'It's almost lunch time, do you want to sneak into the kitchens and eat our weight in cream tarts?'

'Sounds like an excellent plan,' Albus grinned, taking my arm and leading the way towards the ticklish pear painting.

**I hope you enjoyed this chapter! I don't think it's my favourite so far, but any advice will be greatly appreciated. I hope you all like the development of Rose's friendship with Albus.**

**Review! It'll make my night**


	18. Chapter 18

**Hi! Back to school time, well for me anyway. I hope you enjoy.**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing but the original characters and the situations they find themselves in.**

The following weekend came around but I still hadn't figured out how to apologize for my abysmal behaviour towards my friends, not that I hadn't tried. I'd spent several evenings by the lake with Albus trying to draft an apology out on parchment. But nothing sounded adequate or sincere enough. I'd never been very good at saying sorry, my Weasley stubbornness and Slytherin bad attitude never made for a good combo.

This left me once again spending the weekend going on a Hogsmeade trip with Al, who needed my opinion on a Christmas gift for a girl he was currently seeing, a fifth year Ravenclaw called Philipa.

'What kind of a name is Philipa anyway?' I asked peering through the glass cases of the jewellery store as a snooty sales woman with large teeth watched over us with an eagle eye.

'A normal one,' Albus replied dismissively as he examined a pair of pearl earrings.

'You must really like her,' I commented, gesturing to the price tag. Albus simply shrugged.

'She doesn't really strike me as your type,' I prompted, hoping for some more details on the elusive Philipa, having not met her yet. 'You haven't been going out long yet have you?'

'Are you prying Rosie?' he teased with a knowing look, selecting a smaller pair of opal studs.

I widened my eyes innocently as I fiddled with a display of gold rings. 'Is it a sin for a girl to want to know a little titbit about her favourite cousin's new significant other?'

'Well she's on the Ravenclaw Quidditch team as one of the new chasers, her favourite food is sushi and she drives a motorbike of her family's farm,' he rattled off casually.

'You don't seem too keen on her,' I said as we headed to the counter.

'I've invited her over for Christmas haven't I?' he replied nonchalantly as he handed over the 17 galleons to the horse woman, who battered her eyelashes flirtatiously at the Chosen One's son. Not that Albus noticed.

I shrugged in response, not entirely convinced with his new budding romance. 'I don't even know how you found the time to meet her really, especially considering you managed to do it without me noticing,' I added lightly, as Al and I had got into the habit of only parting at curfew as we had to return to our separate common rooms.

Albus laughed out loud and threw his arm around my shoulders. 'Believe it or not I have more friends than just you Rosie.'

'I'll believe it when I see it,' I retorted as we stepped back out onto the street.

'Speaking of which, when are you going to talk to your friends?' Albus asked seriously.

'So keen to be rid of me are you?' I laughed, trying to shrug off the topic.

'Rosie,' Al repeated sternly.

I sighed, 'I don't know, I'm not very good at apologising and expressing my emotions and all that crap. I just want to do it right, at the right time.'

'Well now might be your chance,' Albus replied thoughtfully.

'Huh?' I asked, following Albus's gaze further down the road to where Vivian stood hands on hips and appeared to be arguing with a seventh year Ravenclaw boy, as Evie hovered anxiously to the side.

Albus and I hurried through the gathering crowd to diffuse the obviously growing situation.

'What the hell is going on here?' I asked, stepping into the middle of the circle of students excitedly anticipating a duel.

The seventh year boy, whose name I think was Quince Wheaton, growled.

'Your friend is a filthy death eater slut,' he snarled, spitting onto the ground in front of Vivian's feet. Quick as a flash Vivian whipped out her wand and held it to Wheaton's nose.

'Vivian,' Evie cautioned nervously.

'Say that again, you pig,' Vivian threatened in a harsh whisper, her cat eyes narrowed into slits. Her deadly aura was enough to make Wheaton falter for a few moments and the crowd to hold its breath. But he cleared his throat nervously before rising to his full height, clearly aware of the crowd they'd attracted.

'Slut,' he called out loudly, hand grasping his own wand inside his pocket.

Taking the moment of hesitation before Vivian attempted to blow the boy's brains out. I quickly stepped in and grabbed her hand, pulling her wand away from his face.

'You're just jealous that she wouldn't touch you with a ten foot pole, jackass,' I bit back at him before pulling Vivian away, her hand clasped in mine. She struggled out of my grip and turned back towards Wheaton, who took a step back under the heat of her terrifying gaze.

'Come near me or any of my friends again you miserable pervert and I'll turn you into the slug you really are, and squash you.' With that she took her leave, marching through the parting crowd, who quickly dispersed at the sight of an oncoming teacher.

Evie and I shared a look before chasing after her.

'Vivian, wait up!' I called out.

'I could have handled it,' she said, wiping tears from her eyes, which we pretended not to notice.

'I know,' I said hugging her.

'Thanks Rose,' she said as she pulled away, tightening her jacket around her shoulders and squeezing Evie's hand.

'Hey, I'll always have your back,' I smiled.

Vivian smiled back in understanding and hugged me again.

'Yay, we have Rose back!' Evie cheered before wrapping her arms around the two of us as we laughed.

'Sorry I've been such a miserable excuse for a friend lately,' I told them as we pulled a part.

'It okay Rose, we understand. Family is difficult,' Evie replied soothingly, linking her arms with us as we walked back towards the castle.

'And there are many ways you can make it up to us,' Vivian assured me with an evil smile.

'Anything at all,' I promised them.

'For starters my seventeenth birthday this Christmas holidays, you better be there,' Vivian grinned.

'Wouldn't miss it for the world,' I smiled as I walked through the town happily with my friends.

**Reviews are much appreciated! And hopefully I'll have another chapter up soon.**


	19. Chapter 19

**So two chapters up in a week! I hope you enjoy this one, sorry it's so short.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter**

_Dear Rose,_

_Your father and I just wanted to check up on you, we've receive some worrying reports from Neville and a few other of your teachers. They've told us that you're grades have slipped and that you're behaviour in class has become disruptive for other students. Letters home from Hugo also bring news that you haven't been spending as much time with your family and haven't been to a Sunday breakfast in a month._

_We hope that we have no reason to worry, but if there is something that's been troubling you please let us know. I am happy to come into Hogsmeade next weekend to discuss any problems you might be having. Otherwise we'll see you for Christmas break._

_Love you lots,_

_Mum_

'Letter from home?' Duane asked as I sat down on one of the black leather recliners that circled around the common room fire.

'Yeah, they're worrying about my test results,' I said as I folded up the letter and tucked it into my book bag.

'Ha,' Duane snickered. 'If I was bringing home the test scores you do my parents would be over the moon. Or think I was cheating,' he smirked as he began poking the fire with an iron rod. 'You've got nothing to worry about.'

I smiled and offered him a chocolate frog as Vivian, Evie and Scorpius came to join us after returning from the library.

Scorpius watch enviously as Duane wolfed down the chocolate treat. 'Got any more of those?' he asked wistfully. I gladly obliged and pulled the last one out from my pocket; Scorpius snatched it up quickly and almost swallowed it whole.

Watching with some gross fascination we waited until he'd finished.

'How'd the library go?' Duane asked, throwing his own collectable card of Morgana into the fire. The three of them groaned.

'It was a nightmare,' Scorpius scowled. 'The place was packed, we missed dinner and still I have nothing for my essay,' Vivian and Evie nodded in tired agreement. 'And now all I want to do is sleep,' Scorpius rose from his chair.

'No, you don't want to go in there,' Duane warned with wide eyes.

'Why?' Scorpius glowered.

'Harper and Grace disappeared into your rooms about twenty minutes ago,' I cautioned.

'Again!' Scorpius fumed, sitting back down in her chair. 'If they get naked in my bed I swear he will wake up castrated,' the threatened darkly.

'I have something to cheer you guys up,' Vivian smiled, handing each of us a thick piece of white card.

You are formally invited to the celebration of Vivian Vaisley's 17th birthday.

30th of December 7pm

Dinner and Ball

Formal wear is requires

RSVP by owl or floo

'Yay,' Evie grinned.

'You guys are all invited from the twenty-eighth to spend the weekend at the manor, along with some other family friends,' Vivian grinned. 'Scorpius your parents have already RSVP'd and you're staying over with your family, yours too Evie.'

'Cool,' Scorpius said, seeming to cheer up a little.

'We should go out next weekend to Hogsmeade and get some new dresses for it,' Evie suggested.

'Totally!' Duane smirked, putting on a high feminine voice. 'I think Scorp and I really need something that brings out our eyes,' he battered his eyelashes flirtatiously. Evie laughed and playfully pushed him back into his chair.

'Girls day, sorry boys,' Vivian said with a wink. 'You'll be there won't you Rose?' she asked.

'Of course,' I smiled, but on the inside I faltered. This was going to take some serious convincing on my part.

'Good. Anyway I'm going to bed,' Vivian said, standing up and giving everyone a kiss goodnight on the cheek, followed a few minutes later by Evie as Grace slinked back down from the boy's rooms.

'Now's our chance,' Duane said as he pulled Scorpius by the arm back to their room before the two could start going back at it like rabbits.

Left alone in with warmth of the fire I pulled out a sheet of parchment.

_Dear Mum,_

_Everything is fine. Tell Neville and Hugo to stop worrying you so much. I'll be home for Christmas, but I've been invited to Vivian's to celebrate her seventeenth birthday the days leading up to the New Year, I'd really appreciate it if you let me go. She is my best friend and this is a very special occasion._

_See you at Christmas._

_Love, _

_Rose_

**Thanks for reading, let me know what you think. And I promise you there will be some Scorpius/Rose action soon.**


	20. Chapter 20

**Thank you to .Read and WhatsTheTimeMrWolf for your lovely reviews, they made my month **** Thanks to everyone else who reviewed, they are always appreciated.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.**

'We've got a letter from Rose,' Hermione mused aloud to Ron as he sat down beside her at the breakfast table. 'She wants to know if she can go to Vivian's during the holidays for her seventeenth birthday. She's been invite to stay for a few days after Christmas,' she read out, scanning the letter thoughtfully as she sipped her tea.

'Hmmm,' was Ron's response, frowning at his jam toast. 'I'm not sure if I like that.'

Hermione frowned at her husband over the letter. 'From memory Vivian was lovely when she came to stay with us that New Year's,' she reminded her husband, Ron simply shrugged his shoulders.

'I'm just saying, I'm a little cautious of sending my baby girl to stay with people I don't know,' Ron countered, 'Particularly people who have been associated with Death Eaters.'

'The Vaisley's have never been linked to Voldemort,' Hermione corrected. 'And if we don't let Rose go she'll think that we're trying to prevent her from spending time with her friends. I don't want her to think that we don't trust her.'

Ron sulked, sometimes it was a nuisance to be married to someone as smart as Hermione Weasley, they never let you be irrational. 'She's been doing very well in school as well,' Hermione added to further enhance her argument. 'And she's assured me that everything is going well.'

'Okay,' Ron said with a huff. 'She can go.' Hermione smiled and stood up, giving her husband a kiss on the cheek as she made her way to clear up the morning's breakfast.

'I'll send her an owl letting know she can go once I get into the office,' she told Ron.

'Okay,' Ron said, shrugging on his coat. 'And while you do that I'll find out where they live and do a background check.'

'Ronald!' Hermione warned.

'Just kidding,' he grinned giving her a kiss goodbye and a smack on the bum. 'See you for dinner.'

'Don't be late!' Hermione called out after him.

'What do you think?' Vivian asked, stepping out of the change rooms in Madam Evangeline's Dress Robes for All Occasions.

'Oh it's beautiful,' Evie sighed enviously, touching the royal blue silk that formed the full skirt of the gown, which was encrusted with small diamonds that shone when the light touched them making the whole dress look as though it glittered. The dress's heart-shaped bodice was the same dark blue but embodied with black lace and the same diamonds studding the bust.

'It's amazing Vivian,' I gushed as she turned in a slow circle for us.

'Who was the designer?' Grace asked, as amazed and envious as I was.

'My mum's friend Jacquelyn Lecaire based it off some initial sketches I sent her,' Vivian smiled radiantly as she admired herself in the mirror.

I almost fell out of my chair, 'Your mum is friends with Lecaire?' I gasped. Vivian nodded.

'Their parents holidayed in France together often when they were children,' she stated carelessly, like it was nothing. Evie sighed wistfully beside me on the couch and I caught her eye as we shared our desire for our own Lecaire dress.

Vivian changed back out of the dress once the finishing touches had been made and began looking through the racks with the rest of us for our own outfit.

It was the last weekend before the Christmas holidays and we'd decided to make good on the idea of a girls day so we could get each other's opinions of dresses for Vivian's seventeenth. Hesitantly I looked through the price tags on the dresses, and was dismayed to find many of them a little way out of my price range. My family were very well off despite my father's childhood poverty and they had sent me some money on order to buy a new dress. But the money I carried in my purse was only going to be enough to buy one of the simpler dresses on display.

Putting on a smile to hide my disappointment I selected a few of them to try on and met the other girls back in the change rooms. By the time I'd returned Grace had already selected her own dress and was modelling it for the others as she admired herself in the full length mirror. It was a lavender chiffon dress with a dozen or so handmade silk flowers that formed the bodice of the dress and its one strap. It looked lovely on her with her honey brown hair and caramel complexion.

In my own change room I slipped into a simple pale pink silk dress that not only clashed with my hair but pulled across my chest while simultaneous making my hips look huge. The next three weren't much better. Changing back into my jeans feeling both upset and hopeless I decided I'd take my chances finding a dress in muggle London over Christmas.

'Did you find anything?' Vivian asked, watching as I returned my dresses back to their racks.

'Actually I think I might already have something,' I lied casually.

'Cool,' Vivian nodded, asking no more questions than that, but continued to watch me from the corner of her cat-like eyes. Acting like I hadn't notice I made a show of fixing my hair in the mirrors and reapplying a coat of my berry lipstick while Grace put in an order for her dress.

As I capped the tube Evie emerged from her dressing room in a lovely satin dress the colour of pink roses. The shiny material was layered into a full skirt with short puffy sleeves.

'You look great Evie,' I told her with a smile as she turned for us excitedly.

'You look fab,' Vivian said as she nodded her approval at the vintage styled dress. Even Grace let slip a 'wow'.

The girls payed for their dresses and put them on order. As we made our way back up through the town, headed towards the Three Broomsticks for a warm butterbeer I began to feel anxious about finding a dress for myself. There weren't many stores in muggle London that would have a dress that I could pass off at a pureblood party as well as being under my budget. Sighing I looked towards the post office when an idea hit me. It was time to call in the expert. Aunt Fleur.

**I know it's a short chapter but I wanted to put something up this weekend. I hope you like it and if you did please leave a review to let me know or just give me some suggestions! **


	21. Chapter 21

**Merry Christmas everyone! I hope you enjoy this chapter and your holidays!  
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter**

'Merry Christmas Rosie!' Grandma Weasley smiled as I stepped into the Burrow living room out of the fireplace.

'Merry Christmas to you too Gran,' I smiled back as she took me in for a solid hug.

The Burrow was decked out in its usual garlands of holly and mistletoe with tinsel and shiny ornaments hanging for all available ledges, banisters and beams. The radio in the background was cheerfully playing God Bless the Merry Hippogriffs and the large Christmas tree dominating a corner of the lounge room glittered prettily as the charmed leaves alternated between green and gold. The familiar warmth of the Burrow had me taking in a deep breath, enjoying the smells of roast and cinnamon wafting in from the kitchen.

'The others are out the back enjoying the snow,' she said with a wink before turning to Hugo who'd appeared in a cloud of smoke and green fire. Brushing the ash off my coat I made my way through the kitchen and stepped out into the garden to find my cousins engaged in the mother of all snowball fights. The girls had set up their fort closest to the kitchen and were in fierce battle with the boys. I hovered at the edge of the playing field until I spotted Aunt Fleur waving to me from her observation point in the safety of the frozen geraniums. Coming over she embraced me with a kiss on the cheek.

'Ah Rozie! Merry Christmas,' she greeted in her thick accent. She smelled like jasmine and the ocean and looked as beautiful as ever in a trench coat and cashmere scarf. Looking at her I knew I'd come to the right person for my own fashion dilemma.

'Merry Christmas Fleur,' I smiled.

'I got your letter!' she said with a wink. 'And I zink I have just ze zing for you! Let's get away from all zis muck and wetness,' she made a face and the snow and took my arm, leading me back inside the house up to Uncle Bill's old room.

'I waz looking through the clothes I had as a girl,' she said as she closed the door behind us, I precariously perched myself on the edge of a Weasley's Wizard Wheezes box that had been stored away here for safe keeping. 'And I came upon zis dress. Ah! It has been too long,' she smiled, pulling a long, silver dress that was encrusted with tiny diamantes that sparkled as it caught the light.

Fleur held it out for me to examine.

'Oh, wow,' I gasped, walking over to run my hand along the soft fabric. Fleur smiled triumphantly.

'It waz ze dress I wore to ze Yule Ball,' she said, taking the dress of the hanger for me to try on. 'I know it is a little old fashioned, but I'm sure I could make some adjustments.' Quickly she turned away so I could change into the magnificent gown.

'What do you think?' I asked once it was on, turning in a small circle for her.

'Ah! You look beautiful Rozie!' she proclaimed, holding her hand to her chest. 'But I zink I could make some improvements,' she winked and pulled out her wand. In just a flick the sleeves had disappeared and the neckline had plunged down into a V. Leaving me to sway back and forth in the A-line cut dress.

'There,' she said smiling, giving her wand a little flourish, 'Much more perfect.'

I turned to face the mirror that had been attached to the inside of the wardrobe and blinked. I looked great, the glittering silver made me look like some ethereal being. I almost didn't recognise myself. I smiled at the mirror and watched as the unrecognisable figure smiled back radiantly.

'Do you like?' Fleur asked.

'Yes! Yes, yes, yes!' I exclaimed happily, wrapping my arms around her. Fleur laughed, hugging me in return.

'I am glad,' she said, turning me back to the mirror, smiling at my reflection. 'Tres magnific! You look like a glamorous 1920 film star,' she gushed, tucking a piece of hair away from my face. 'You should let me cut your hair,' Fleur sighed, curling a piece of it between her fingers.

'Cut it?' I asked curiously. 'What's wrong with it?'

'Nothing, but you would look beautiful. A gorgeous bob with your curlz and cheek bonez, I would if I could pull it off.' She sighed again.

I decided not to mention to Fleur that she could shave her head and still look like a goddess with those vela genes of hers, but instead I gulped nervously as she looked at my reflection with hopeful eyes.

'Okay,' I agreed.

'Really?' she exclaimed happily.

'Yes,' I said with more confidence, sounding bolder than I felt.

'Again it will look tres magnific, I promise' Fleur said, taking her wand out. In a few sharp slices of her wand my once long red hair had fallen in pieces to the floor. Fleur put her hands on my shoulders and smiled into the mirror.

'Zee, beautiful! Much cleaner, you look zo… zo… zophisticated and glamorous.' I stared into the mirror in shock, she was right. I looked older, more mature and glamorous with my thick, loose curls framing my face and exposing my long neck. Very pleased with her work Fleur laughed, seeing my smile.

'You should trust me Rozie! I know what I'm doing!' I laughed along with her, running my hands through my hair. Still wearing the dress I spun across the room, more excited now for Vivian's than I had been. I wasn't going to stick out like a sore thumb; I was going to be beautiful.

'Thank you Fleur,' I said gratefully, giving her a kiss on the cheek.

'Ah! My pleasure. I will leave you to get changed, I must go help your Grandma with ze gravy!'

Smiling giddily I folded the dress carefully and put it on the edge of the bed to retrieve later.

I skipped down the stairs, the drafts through the Burrow feeling cool on my exposed neck as I paused on the landing outside Uncle Charlie's old room where Albus was staying, keen to show off my new hair.

Opening the small wooden framed door the smile quickly fell from my face. Albus sat dejectedly on the edge of the mattress, gloomily pouring over a letter.

'What's the matter?' I asked, quickly taking a seat beside him. Peering over his shoulder I just made out the looped letters _Dear Albus_ before he scrunched the letter into a small ball and tossed it neatly in the fire. 'Who was that from?' I asked again. Albus rose from the bed to face me, angrily pushing his fringe from his face.

'Philipa,' he grunted shortly. 'She's not coming for Christmas anymore.'

'Why?' I asked in surprise. I'd finally been introduced to the mysterious Philipa at Kings Cross Station and as far as I could tell, she'd been giving off serious vibes to my cousin. A bit gross to watch actually, all that eyelash batting.

'Apparently, being with the Chosen One's son was a bit too much for her to deal with,' Albus fumed through clenched teeth. 'Some reporters got wind of it and her mum caught them rummaging through their garbage, and just like that she's had enough.'

'Is that all?' I asked. 'She couldn't take a few snooping reporters?'

'Yeah, it's not what she'd '_signed up for'_ apparently,' Albus laughed sarcastically. 'I've been dumped by owl on Christmas, how pathetic is that?'

I jumped off the bed and wrapped my arms around his shoulders. 'Ah, it'll be alright Al. We'll find you someone else with more back bone that isn't afraid of a little lime light.' Albus shrugged me off and walked towards the window, where his owl nuzzled his shoulder affectionately from her perch.

'Thanks Rosie,' he said bluntly. 'But I'm just so sick of girls, and guys for that matter, running away at the first sign of our crazy life or else only dating me to boost their own popularity. Or the guys don't want to be out in the open because they're still bloody in the closet.'

'Hey,' I said sympathetically. 'I understand believe me! And there is going to be someone out there for you who will stick around for the right reasons.'

Albus managed a small smile. 'Thanks Rosie,' he said with a little more warmth this time, engulfing me in a hug. Pulling away he had a puzzled look on his face.

'What happened to your hair?' he asked, just now noticing.

'I cut it, you like?' I asked striking an over exaggerated model pose, which got a laugh out of my cousin.

'Yeah looks good,' he nodded his approval. 'I take it it's all a part of Fleur's magical make over before Vivian's birthday?'

I nodded, running a hand through my soft curls, musing about the upcoming celebration when an idea hit me.

'Hey! Would you like to come?' I asked, my eyes lighting up light a Christmas tree.

'I wasn't invited,' Albus frowned.

'That won't be an issue,' I assured him, already knowing Vivian would be more that pleased to have an extra guest at her extravaganza. 'I promise.' Albus still looked doubtful.

'And my parents aren't exactly going to be thrilled about me going to a Slytherin party.'

I rolled my eyes. 'Please, your dad is much more progressive than mine, they can't stand by old stereotypes anymore, especially when they're talking about my house and my friends. In fact they'd be more happy with both of us going, you know, safety in numbers and all that,' I smiled hopefully, Albus contemplated my proposal.

'Well, I guess it's worth a shot right?' he asked, beginning to grin. 'What else am I going to do all winter anyway?'

'That's the spirit!' I said with a cheer, I was looking forward to Vivian's birthday more and more.

**Please Read and Review! Any suggestions are appreciated and if you liked it let me know!**


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